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 Organization 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 Organization, the World Health
Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and other organizations
concerned,
Recalling also
Economic and Social Council resolution 1921 (LVIII) of
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 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 opinions, national or
social origin, state of wealth, birth or any other situation applying either to
the disabled person himself or herself or to 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 Rights 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
processes 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. Organizations 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.
©
Copyright 1997 - 2000
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights