In collaboration with the Fédération National de Personnes Handicapées du Niger, on May 28, 29 and 30 2018, IDA held a 3 days’ workshop on the CRPD review process. This workshop was developed in the lead up to the process of review of Niger by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, beginning next September with the adoption of the List of Issues by the Committee.
The 3-day activity gathered 20 participants from organisations of persons with disabilities and other civil society allies both from the capital Niamey and from other regions of the country. The workshop took place in a Meeting Room at the Hotel Sahel and was a great opportunity for all the participants to learn about the CRPD review process and the many ways in which civil society is invited to engage and contribute to the drafting of the alternative reports.
The activity included initial presentations on the CRPD and on the
process of review by the CRPD Committee. More specific presentations
were provided addressing some key issues, notably the rights of women
and children with disabilities, one of the areas of focus of the
Fédération National des Personnes Handicapées du Niger, addressed
throughout the workshop. Further, a presentation addressed articles
Articles 4.3 (consultation and involvement of persons with disabilities
in policy design and implementation) and 33 (national implementation and
monitoring), which are currently being discussed in the context of the
development of the CRPD`s Committee General Comment No. 7.
The participants actively engaged in addressing proposed exercises, holding group discussions on the situation of the rights of persons with disabilities in Niger, and reviewing the Initial Report of the State and the draft alternative report of the Fédération. The outcome of these conversations will contribute to the final stages of the drafting of an alternative report by Fédération National des Personnes Handicapées du Niger to the CRPD Committee, prior to its adoption of the List of Issues.
