UNITED NATIONS DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS KOF DEISABLED

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UN DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF DISABLED PERSONS top

The General Assembly:

Mindful of the pledge made by Member States, under the Charter of the
United Nations, to take joint and separate action in co-operation with
the Organisation to promote higher standards of living, full
employment and conditions of economic and social progress and
development.

Reaffirming its faith in human rights and fundamental freedoms and in
the principles of peace, of the dignity and worth of the human person
and of social justice proclaimed in the Charter.

Recalling the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the International Covenants on Human Rights, the Declaration of the
Rights of the Child and the Declaration on the Rights of Mentally
Retarded Persons, as well as the standards already set for social
progress in the constitutions, conventions, recommendations and
resolutions of the International Labour Organisation, the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, the World
Health Organisation, the United Nations Children's Fund and other
organisations concerned.

Recalling also Economic and Social Council resolution 1921 (LVIII) of
6 May 1975 on the prevention of disability and the rehabilitation of
disabled persons.

Emphasizing that the Declaration on Social Progress and Development
has proclaimed the necessity of protecting the rights and assuring the
welfare and rehabilitation of the physically and mentally
disadvantaged.

Bearing in mind the necessity of preventing physical and mental
disabilities and of assisting disabled persons to develop their
abilities in the most varied fields of activities and of promoting
their integration as far as possible in normal life.

Aware that certain countries, at their present stage of development,
can devote only limited efforts to this end.




Proclaims this Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons and calls
for national and international action to ensure that it will be used
as a common basis and frame of reference for the protection of these
rights:

1. The term "disabled person" means any person unable to ensure by
himself or herself, wholly or partly, the necessities of a normal
individual and/or social life, as a result of a deficiency, either
congenital or not, in his or her physical or mental capabilities.

2. Disabled persons shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this
Declaration. These rights shall be granted to all disabled persons
without any exception whatsoever and without distinction or
discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, state of
wealth, birth or any other situation applying either to the disabled
person himself or herself or his or her family.

3. Disabled persons have the inherent right to respect for their human
dignity. Disabled persons, whatever the origin, nature and seriousness
of their handicaps and disabilities, have the same fundamental rights
as their fellow-citizens of the same age, which implies first and
foremost the right to enjoy a decent life, as normal and full as
possible.

4. Disabled persons have the same civil and political rights as other
human beings, paragraph 7 of the Declaration on the Right of Mentally
Retarded Persons applies to any possible limitation or suppression of
those rights for mentally disabled persons.

5. Disabled persons are entitled to the measures designed to enable
them to become as self-reliant as possible.

6. Disabled persons have the right to medical psychological and
functional treatment, including prosthetic and orthetic appliances, to
medical and social rehabilitation, education, vocational training and
rehabilitation, aid, counselling, placement services and other
services which will enable them to develop their capabilities and
skills to the maximum and will hasten the process of their social
integration or reintegration.

7. Disabled persons have the right to economic and social security and
to a decent level of living. They have the right, according to their
capabilities, to secure and retain employment or to engage in a
useful, productive and remunerative occupation and to join trade
unions.

8. Disabled persons are entitled to have their special needs taken
into consideration at all stages of economic and social planning.

9. Disabled persons have the right to live with their families or with
foster parents and to participate in all social, creative or
recreational activities. No disabled person shall be subjected, as far
as his or her residence is concerned, to differential treatment other
than that required by his or her condition or by the improvement which
he or she may derive therefrom. If the stay of a disabled person in a
specialized establishment is indispensable, the environment and living
conditions therein shall be as close as possible to those of the
normal life of a person of his or her age.

10. Disabled persons shall be protected against all exploitation, all
regulations and all treatment of a discriminatory, abusive or
degrading nature.

11. Disabled persons shall be able to avail themselves of qualified
legal aid when such aid proves indispensable for the protection of
their persons and property. If judicial proceedings are instituted
against them, the legal procedure applied shall take their physical
and mental condition fully into account.




12. Organisations of disabled persons may be usefully consulted in all
matters regarding the rights of disabled persons.

13. Disabled persons, their families and communities shall be fully
informed, by all appropriate means, of the rights contained in this
Declaration.

(2433rd plenary meeting- 9th December 1975)