Civil society participation in the implementation of the Convention | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD)

Expert Group Meeting: “Making it work: civil society participation in the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”

Disability experts from around the world came together for an expert group meeting organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Government of Spain, and Fundación ONCE, from 27 to 29 November 2007 in Madrid, Spain. The objectives of the meeting were:

to inform and consult civil society on the future steps of the Convention process, and particularly the Conference of the parties, including implications on civil society participation
to learn from functioning of and lessons learned from other civil society mechanisms linked to existing Conventions
to establish dialogue and present proposals aimed at ensuring effective civil society participation in the future steps of the implementation of the Convention, upon its entry into force

The expert group meeting resulted in two outcome documents:

The Declaration of Madrid, which contains recommendations to United Nations Member States on priority areas of action to ensure the participation of civil society in the implementation and follow-up of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and
Recommendations from the Expert Group to Civil Society, which contains recommendations to civil society on the same theme.