Content of the article.
On December 17, 2019, the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Article 8 concerning awareness-raising under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was approved. This report was an agenda item for the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council, held from February 24 to March 20, 2020.
This report was prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council Resolution 37/22, in which the Council requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to prepare a thematic study on Article 8 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and submit it before its 43rd session.
The report seeks to provide an overview of the obligation to raise awareness throughout society, including at the family level, so as to foster greater awareness of the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities, from a human rights perspective.
The following recommendations in the report are worth highlighting:-
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- States should promote a positive image of persons with disabilities and design programs that raise awareness about their rights, mobilize action, and eliminate attitudinal barriers. They should also refrain from supporting campaigns that stigmatize persons with disabilities.
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- States should encourage the media to portray persons with disabilities in a manner consistent with the purposes of international standards on freedom of expression. Codes of practice and media regulations should promote disability-related content and appropriate representation in the media. Media regulatory bodies should also have a mandate consistent with accessibility standards so that persons with disabilities can access media and digital environments.
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- States should promote the participation of persons with disabilities in the design and implementation of awareness-raising programs, as well as in laws and regulations concerning the media, in order to increase their relevance and effectiveness and avoid negative stereotypes or outdated conceptions—such as the medical model and ableism—about persons with disabilities.
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- States should conduct quantitative and qualitative research on equality, discrimination and attitudes toward persons with disabilities, as well as on media content and portrayals of persons with disabilities, in order to advance and guide decision-making on context-sensitive awareness-raising activities.
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