UN to produce the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

[Guest guest]

United Nations to produce the Convention on the Rights of Persons

with Disabilities.

http://ratifynow.org/

" This Convention must not be simply another ritual of words to allow

paternalists and bit players to say they have done their duty to

people with disabilities. It must guarantee stronger, not weaker,

rights and remedies, and laws like ADA. If we want a meaningful

convention, we must give up business as usual and fight as if the

lives of billions depended on it, because they do.

" Almost all great moral revolutions have been led by apparently

ordinary people who became passionate, single-minded advocates who

destroyed stereotypes with the magic sword of truth, who transcended

politics, hate and fear, and united the people in their personal

universes, who struggled for a world of justice. You do have the

power to create an international convention that will be the

declaration of independence for billions of people in the 21st

century. No soldier ever died for a better cause. "

- Dart, April 8, 2002

Welcome to RatifyNow!

RatifyNow was founded by lifelong disability rights advocates who

worked with other advocates at the United Nations to produce the

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Our membership

is comprised of individuals and organizations who are passionate

about using the CRPD to protect and advance the rights of people with

disabilities worldwide.

We started RatifyNow to support the efforts of disability rights

advocates to persuade their national governments to ratify the CRPD

and its Optional Protocol without reservations. Our goal is to use

the Internet to offer a forum where people with disabilities,

government officials, and journalists can learn about the treaty, and

support grassroots efforts to promote ratification.

Visitors to our website will find a variety of ratification advocacy

tools, from a rich variety of helpful sources, presented in a user-

friendly fashion. We will include not just the advocacy product, but

also contact information for its creators and a step-by-step

blueprint that traces its development. Our hope is to highlight

strategies that can be broadly adapted for local use by providing

detailed roadmaps and facilitating dialogue so that advocates can

obtain advice and support directly from those who have developed

effective ratification tools.

By pooling our efforts, each of us can become more effective and

maintain high morale by sharing and learning from the success of our

counterparts. We hope you'll take a few minutes to explore our

website, and that you'll return frequently for updates. RatifyNow is

intended to reflect the CRPD principle that everyone should be

provided with opportunities in life; your individual comments and

contributions are desired and valued. To stay informed about the

latest CRPD ratification efforts, consider joining our free list

serve by clicking here.

RatifyNow is an organization that was started by, for, and about

people with disabilities, and we welcome individual and

organizational allies without disabilities to join us.