Category Archives: Disability Issues

by | April 4, 2008 · 9:28 am

Disability Rights Convention Now International Law

Celebrations all round! Just in case you haven’t caught up with the media fanfare (not!) the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities now has twenty ratifications. This means it is now international law and the mechanisms to bring it into force, such as the international monitoring committee, can now be established.

New Zealand has not yet ratified, see Disability Rights Convention one year on, but this is huge for disabled people worldwide. Congratulations to those countries which have ratified. Disabled people there will now have a voice in monitoring the implementation of the Convention.

Each step in the development of this Convention has been a vindication of our struggle to make disability rights part of the human rights agenda. In New Zealand it gives further weight to the Disability Strategy, and a platform for progress in achieving our rights alongside non-disabled people..

To find out what is happening here go to the Office for Disability Issues and the Human Rights Commission.

Nothing about us without us!

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by | · 8:43 am

Damned if you do

There’s a certain irony about the man who can’t compete in the Olympics because his artificial legs would give him an unfair advantage over the regular athletes! Does that mean that the Paralympians are now faster than the Olympians! Aren’t the Olympics supposed to be the creme de la creme of speed and the Paralympics for crocks who can’t compete on the same terms as “real” sportspeople? This is really confusing to a sports dummy like me who was brought up to believe that disabled people could not go out there and aggressively compete at sport.

Reuters reported earlier this year

“Nightmare visions of athletes using all sorts of mechanical aids to improve performances prompted the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to amend its rules last year.”

Heaven forbid!

It went on to say ‘The IAAF banned technical devices incorporating “springs, wheels or any other element” giving athletes an advantage over their competitors.’  (What about fibreglass vaulting poles then?) You just can’t win can you, as a South African athlete who tested the rule found.

Disabled people used to know their place. But not any more. They climb mountains, go skiing, rafting, yachting, run the New York and countless other marathons, and indulge in all manner of sporting pastimes. A special Olympian with Down syndrome is about to attempt the Sky Tower Challenge. Is there no end to what uppity crips and blindies will get up to these days?
Time was when sports reporters were very scornful about Paralympics and disability sports generally, claiming that they weren’t really sports. They never got any mainstream sports coverage. They still don’t get enough, especially when they are winning and the so-called mainstream sports are losing bigtime.

Yet I heard a sports reporter on radio New Zealand just the other day extolling wheelchair rugby, and the wheelblacks (always makes me think of bootblacks for the 21st century,) as great spectator sport. He described with great relish the vigorous and sometimes destructive contact between players. And how they fall out of their chairs, get put back in and continue pursuing a sport every bit as aggressive, macho and physical as its namesake. There was a very strong hint of bloodlust in his enthusiasm.

But back to the guy with the techno racing legs. I think he should be able to race in the Olympics. It would be great to see a crip win in the “real” games. It could be the start of a sporting revolution. I for one would cheer him on.

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by | March 31, 2008 · 9:41 am

Disability Rights convention One Year On

Today is the first anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New Zealand, along with 80 or so other nations signed the Convention in New York one year ago.

Signing the Convention indicates an intention to ratify only, but already there are seventeen ratifications. There needs to be twenty before the Convention becomes international law. Predictions are that the magic number will be reached some time in May.

New Zealand, like many other western democracies does not ratify Conventions until it has scrutinised legislation, policy and practice to ensure we can meet our international obligations once we have ratified. A parliamentary process including select committee must also take place.

This means New Zealand probably won’t be among the first twenty to ratify as so far we are only part way through what will be a thorough process.

It is important that disabled people understand what the Convention can mean for us. Apart from giving us and our issues voice, visibility and legitimacy, it clearly spells out our human rights in a way that moves from a medical, charity and/or welfare way of thinking to a clear human rights approach on the same basis as non-disabled people.

Ratifying countries, (and the Government has indicated it will ratify by the end of this year,) are bound by the provisions of the Convention. They are open to international scrutiny because countries must regularly report to an international committee. More importantly, disabled people and our organisations will play a critical part in national monitoring of the Convention.

There are plenty of ways of finding out about the Convention. The Office for Disability Issues, is a good place to start, the Human Rights Commission has a growing Convention section on its web site. UNESCO New Zealand will be publishing material soon. More resources are becoming available all the time plus a whole raft of international resources including the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions Human Rights YES is an education resource freely available to download and use.

Many disability NGOs are also focusing on the Convention. Ask yours or join up to find out how you can be part of the action.

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by | February 1, 2008 · 9:04 am

A Week in the life… and ratting on mobility parking abusers

A quiet and slow start to 2008. I have found it hard to get motivated, especially with the beautiful weather we are having.
Coupled with a severe case of writer’s block, I have not had a good week. One of my favourite and most expensive dishes has been broken, and I have lost my most expensive ever pair of sunglasses! And I missed an important conference call.

Still, the Year of the Rat will be a busy and interesting election year to look forward to. My Mum turns 90 in March. Our younger daughter turns 21 in May, and we hope to visit our other daughter in Perth later in the year.

AccEase has some exciting new developments to get my teeth into, and Webstock will provide the proverbial shot in the arm in a couple of weeks. This year I can relax and enjoy it since I presented in the 8 X 5 session last time.

Among some of the government policy stuff which will affect disabled people has been the announcement that Government will more than triple fines for people parking illegally in mobility parks from $40 to around $150. A good thing too. But it probably won’t fix the really annoying abusers of private parking spaces such as those in malls and supermarkets. Clamp them and tow them I say! Being towed is a real pain in the neck, (and the wallet). It might encourage mobility park abusers to think twice in future.

Interestingly, CCS Disability Action has found that those who abuse mobility parking represent a cross-section of the NZ population. Half of the cars parked in mobility parks were parked illegally. Their research found that “New Zealand’s rate of the misuse of mobility parks is twice that of the UK. It’s an indication of how our society views disabled and elderly people.” Shame on them all!

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