UN calls on Belgium to do better for people with disabilities

The UN’s Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is calling on Belgium to do better for the inclusion of people with disabilities.

The committee published a report this week saying that while Belgium ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2009, there was still work to be done.

A number of concerns and recommendations are listed in the report, ranging from deprivation of the right to make decisions, to representation in the media, to inadequate inclusive education.

The authors also pointed to a lack of respect for the rights of people with disabilities, with references to the long waiting lists for personal assistance, “which compromises the right to live independently”.

Some positives noted were the inclusion in the constitution in March 2021 of the right of all persons with disabilities “to full inclusion in society, including the right to reasonable accommodation”.

A first evaluation of Belgium’s policies and actions after the initial ratification took place in 2014 and the second, launched in 2019, is about to be completed.