Professor Ron McCallum

A visiting United Nations expert wants disabled people to put pressure on the Government to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Governments are responsible for making sure the Disability Convention is implemented, but government action depends on disabled people voicing their desires. “We are each responsible to make sure the Disability Convention happens,” said Professor Ron McCallum, the Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, on a recent visit to New Zealand hosted by the Human Rights Commission.

The UN Committee is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Disability Convention by States Parties. Ron McCallum is also professor at the University of Sydney Law School and is the first totally blind person to be appointed to a full professorship in Australia.

During his New Zealand visit, Professor McCallum met with government officials and community people to share information and discuss issues around monitoring the Disability Convention.

He said no country yet had a robust and comprehensive system of collecting information and statistics about disabled people’s rights. This information is essential to knowing how the Disability Convention is working.

Professor McCallum believes the most important aspect of the Disability Convention is its reliance on the social model of disability. This model states that people who have impairments are a natural part of our human diversity and that society creates barriers by not considering all people when designing buildings, websites, policies, etc. This view clarifies that government and society must commit to removing the barriers they create, so that all people can participate.

Asked about his hopes and aspirations for the Disability Convention, Professor McCallum said, “It’s my hope that all nations ratify the Convention and fully implement it to improve the lives of 650 million persons in our world with disabilities”.