CRPD Committee publishes List of Issues for Haiti

Read the Press Release (Word)

April 6, 2017 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Diana Samarasan, Founding Executive Director
Telephone: +1-617-261-4593
Email: dsamarasan@disabilityrightsfund.org
Website: www.disabilityrightsfund.org
Twitter: @DisabRightsFund

CRPD Committee publishes List of Issues for Haiti

The Committee on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee) has published the list of issues for Haiti. These are questions the Haitian government must respond to before Haiti’s full review by the Committee this year.

Publication of the List of Issues follows a pre-session the Committee held on March 16th via video conference with representatives of Haitian Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (DPOs), funded by the Disability Rights Fund (DRF) and the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund (DRAF).

Many of the questions were informed by this pre-session, and include queries about whether Haiti has set up the needed mechanisms and budget to implement and monitor the rights of persons with disabilities, and how Haiti is ensuring – via policy and procedures – that people with disabilities, in particular women and girls with disabilities – are protected from exploitation, violence and abuse and have access to justice. Key to the disability movement in Haiti are questions about how the government is consulting representative organizations of persons with disabilities in the design of policies and strategies.

DRF and DRAF are proud of our grantees, Haitian organizations of persons with disabilities, who have worked hard to increase visibility of the issues that persons with disabilities face on a daily basis in Haiti.

The Disability Rights Fund is also thankful for the support of our donors including; the Ansara Family Fund at the Boston Foundation; the Foundation to Promote Open Society, part of the Open Society Foundations; the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation; and UK aid from the UK government. The Disability Rights Advocacy Fund is supported by UK aid and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

For more information, please visit our websites at www.disabilityrightsfund.org and www.drafund.org.