The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities expressed its concern with the situation of persons with disabilities in Portugal, especially regarding the legal recognition of persons with disabilities. The committee mentioned that some persons with disabilities are still unable to vote.

Today marks the 10th birthday of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by Portugal in 2009. To celebrate this date, the Disability and Human Rights Observatory has organized, in Lisbon, a two-day symposium dedicated to this subject.

The symposium “The Disability Convention 10 years later: Research, policies and practices” is taking place in ISCSP – University of Lisbon, counting on the presence of a representative of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

In a statement to the national news agency (Agência Lusa), Ana Peláez has mentioned that a number of pressing issues were highlighted as a result of the Committee’s assessment on the implementation of the Convention in Portugal, which took place in march. One of these issues concerns the right to legal recognition of persons with disabilities in Portuguese law. Ana Peláez stressed that the Committee remains concerned with the fact that there is still no equal recognition before the law, inclusive of persons with any type of legal incapacity.

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SOURCE: TVI24 | 13-12-2016