(3rd meeting) 19th session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COSP19)

This is a mic test for closed captioning. 1, 2, 3. Thank you. Good morning. I call to order for the start of the fourth meeting of the 19th session of the Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we will continue the general debate under Item 5A of the agenda. I was informed that we still have a rather long list of speakers inscribed. As announced earlier this morning, I would appreciate all speakers observing the 3-minute limit for your statements. That way you would help us and this conference exhaust the inscribed list of speakers as much as we can within the time frame. Furthermore, to ensure the debate to be inclusive and following the decision of the Bureau, after every 3 state parties We will invite one NGO, one UN entity, and one national human rights institution who have already inscribed to the list of speakers to take the floor. With this, I kindly recognize and invite the distinguished representative from Greece to make a statement.

Dear chair, Greece aligns itself with the EU statement. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, dear colleagues, it is a great honor to address this conference on behalf of Greece as we mark 20 years of the CRPD. 20 years later, we must ask ourselves: how much inequality can our societies really tolerate? We speak about inclusion, participation, and accessibility, but are our societies Truly ready to see disabled people inside the political fabric? Are they ready to be governed by a blind person? To see a wheelchair user as their minister? To accept disabled people not only as those who receive policies, but as those who design them and judge their results? This is the real meaning of "Nothing Without Us." —not as a slogan, but as a democratic principle. I speak from personal experience. I served as a member of the European Parliament, in a Parliament of 705 members, as one of its 7 disabled members, and the Greek member among them. This was an important step for my country. I was the only one combining such a significant impairment with a fully active parliamentary presence. Yet, too often, my presence was first read through my wheelchair, with the unspoken assumption that I had somehow been accommodated. Disabled people are too often asked to justify their presence before their work is recognized. This is why we must be clear about accessibility. Accessibility is not a charity. It's not a technical detail, it's not only ramps, elevators, websites or transport. Accessibility is a condition that allows freedom, citizenship and political participation to become real. Greece has also made important steps, such as the National Accessibility Authority, which I currently have the honour to chair and which advises the Prime Minister and the Government on accessibility issues, as well as the Personal Assistant Program. These steps matter deeply, yet they are not enough. Not enough disabled people still have to fight to be heard, believed, elected, appointed, educated, employed, and included. So what must be done? First, accessibility must become a binding condition in every public policy every public budget and every public service, not something added at the end but something designed from the beginning. Second, participation must be followed by accountability. We need data, targets, monitoring, and consequences when rights remain only on paper. Third, we need this stronger culture of accountability closer to the speed of the COP not only discussion, but outcomes; not only principles, but commitments; not only commitments, but review. Because rights become real only when they survive the journey from the conference room to everyday life. The next phase of the CRPD must move from participation— from protection to participation; from care to citizenship; from consultation to shared power, because democracy becomes complete when disabled people are present where power is exercised, including as leaders. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative from People with Disability Australia.

English delegates, my name is Bobbie Trower, and I'm here representing People with Disability Australia. 20 years after the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, we've made critical progress in understanding that disability does not exist in isolation. Today, we benefit from decades of advocacy and lived experience leadership that have deepened our understanding of how disability intersects with gender, sexuality, race, culture, access to income, and other identities to shape people's experience of exclusion and participation. Unfortunately, despite some targeted efforts, many barriers remain for many women, LGBTIQ+, First Nations, and other people with disability experiencing multiple forms of discrimination. We continue to hear every day from people who struggle to access safe healthcare, inclusive services, community connection, and supports that recognize the full complexity the quality of our lives. For the disabled LGBTIQ+ community, these barriers are often compounded by discrimination, invisibility, and systems that continue to treat our identities as separate rather than interconnected. How can we ensure that laws, policies, and programs designed to implement the convention do not deepen existing inequalities? The evidence is clear. When people with disability involved from the beginning and not simply consulted after decisions have been made, we see policies that are more effective, services that are more inclusive, and resources used more efficiently. For those working— for those of us working at the intersections of disability, gender, and sexuality, co-design is how we ensure that people who've been historically excluded are able to shape the decisions that affect their lives. Looking towards the next 25 years of CRPD implementation, it must become more than a framework for aspiration and reporting. It must be an active mechanism driving tangible change for the whole disability community. With ongoing humanitarian impacts, we must consider how the Convention can play a stronger role in ensuring accountability, action, and investment in accessibility, inclusion, and human rights. A fully realized CRPD promises— leads to strong accountability, implementation, and enforcement mechanisms that translate rights into action. Without them, we risk the next 20 years delivering too little progress or worse, regression for the rights of people with disability. As Australia currently undertakes significant disability reforms, including substantial cost containment measures, and as countries around the world develop their own systems, efficiency can never come at the expense of equity. The true success of any disability support system is not whether it works for the majority, but whether it works for those experiencing the greatest barriers. Thank you, Madam Vice President.

Thank you. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Austria on behalf of the Committee on Victim Assistance of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention. You have 5 minutes.

Good afternoon, Madam President, distinguished delegates. I have the honor to address you On behalf of the Committee of Victim Assistance of Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, Austria, El Salvador, Mozambique, and Sri Lanka. The Mine Ban Convention has the first— was the first humanitarian disarmament convention to recognize the rights and needs of survivors, families, and communities affected by this indiscriminate weapon. Most survivors acquire permanent impairments and become persons with disabilities. Today, 39 state parties to the Mine Ban Conventions report having mine victims, and 38 of them are also party to the CRPD. This overlap creates a unique opportunity for synergy and mutual reinforcement. We encourage the CRPD community to continue considering the situation of mine and other explosive ordnance survivors when supporting implementation at country level. Madam President, at the, at the 5th Review Conference of the Mine Ban Convention in Cambodia in 2024, the States Parties adopted the CMREAP Anchor Action Plan, which contains 10 dedicated actions on victim assistance. This year, our committee continued its engagement with human rights mechanisms in Geneva, encouraging continued attention to the situation of mine and other explosive ordnance survivors. We were encouraged by the progress on the general comments of the CRPD Committee. Last month, El Salvador hosted the Regional Dialogue of Victim Assistance, bringing together states, organizations of survivors and persons with disabilities, and practitioners from the— across the regions. Ladies and gentlemen, From our interactions with mine-affected State Parties, we observe increasing efforts to implement the CRPT. Yet, challenges in data collection, coordination, resource allocation, and persistent barriers remain, particularly for those living in rural and affected areas. As people continue to be harmed by mines, we need increased efforts to effective first aid, emergency care, and access to healthcare and social services, and meet growing needs of survivors and persons with disabilities. These are some of the areas where the guidance and leadership of this conference can make a meaningful difference. In closing, we kindly invite COSP 19 to Firstly, encourage State Parties to ensure the full participation of mine and other explosive ordnance survivors in all processes. Second, promote the integration of victim assistance into national disability strategies and action plans. Third, support the development of comprehensive and centralized disaggregated data systems that include mine survivors. And fourth, reinforce the importance of protection in situations of risk. We look forward to the deepening of cooperation with the CRPD community. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to a distinguished representative from Australia.

Dear President, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues. This year marks 20 years since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, establishing a global vision for greater dignity, equity, and inclusion for people with disability. Australia reflects its strong commitment to this vision through sustained and coordinated efforts to enable the full and equal participation of people with disability across all areas of life. Life. At the national level, Australia's Disability Strategy 2021-2031 provides the overarching framework for this work. Developed collaboratively with governments, people with disability, carers, kin and representative organisations, the strategy guides coordinated action across all levels of government. Now in its 5th year, it is driving more systemic approaches to embedding policy and service delivery that supports for people with disability consistent with Australia's international human rights obligations. This reform agenda is strengthened by a strong disability community sector which provides systemic advocacy and ensures that policy reform centres lived experience and supports transparent rights-based decision-making. These reforms include changes to the world-leading National Disability Insurance Scheme established in 2013 to support people with significant and permanent disability to strengthen safeguards, promote choice and control, and ensure long-term sustainability of the scheme. Australia's domestic progress is complemented by our international engagement. With growing global disruption, disability equity and rights demands more collaboration and investment. Through our International Disability Equity and Rights Strategy, Australia is supporting a stronger, more inclusive Indo-Pacific. This includes a new $50 million program, Stronger Movement, Stronger Futures, which will strengthen national, regional, and global disability rights movements, ensuring that people with disability are at the center of and leading policy decision-making and implementation. And in doing so, we are supporting practical implementation of the Convention. Australia remains a trusted and consistent partner in advancing disability equity and rights. We recognize that inclusive societies are fundamental to shared peace peace, stability, and prosperity. As we mark this 20th anniversary, Australia will continue to strengthen implementation of the Convention and contribute to global efforts to improve outcomes for people with disability. Thank you.

Thank you. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of New Zealand, from New Zealand, also on behalf of Group of Friends on the Rights of Persons Persons with Disabilities, you have 5 minutes.

I am honored to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of Friends on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The full version will be available in the record of this meeting. This year's overarching theme invites us to reaffirm our collective commitment to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 20 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, exploitation, violence, and abuse against persons with disabilities have not subsided. We call on States Parties to integrate legislative reforms explicitly prohibiting exploitation, violence, and abuse against persons with disabilities, and to recognize the violence experienced by such persons, as well as to enhance efforts to prevent and implement response services for victims and survivors with disabilities. We must harness international cooperation and technological innovation to ensure meaningful participation and the full and effective inclusion of persons with disabilities, including through accessible infrastructure, transport, housing, access to safe, effective, and affordable assistive technology, inclusive health services, education and employment, independent living, culture, sports, and equal participation in public life, including civic leadership, representation, and advocacy in political and public life. We urge all stakeholders to ensure that technology design and development including artificial intelligence, is inclusive, accessible, respects human rights, and fosters the expertise and leadership of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations. Persons with disabilities are disproportionately affected in situations of risk and conflict. We emphasize the importance of mainstreaming their rights and perspectives in humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction. War also generates disability on large scale, resulting in the wide range of physical, sensory, cognitive, and psychological impairments. We must implement systemic approaches, policies, and programs that are inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities, in line with Article 11 of the Convention, Security Council Resolution 2475, international law, and interconnected with the humanitarian, development, and peace fields. Urgent actions are also needed to address the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination faced by persons with disabilities, in particular women and girls. It's important to understand how diverse contexts amplify the barriers faced by persons with disabilities, and as a result, create and implement policies that reach and protect the most vulnerable. In doing so, it's essential to address the specific challenges faced by persons with disabilities who also belong to other marginalised groups, including children, older persons, Indigenous peoples, persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities, LGBTI individuals, and refugees or migrants with disabilities. We call for the establishment and strengthening of care and support systems that are disability inclusive, age sensitive, and gender responsive, as well as disability targeted measures to ensure their decent work and increased employment opportunities. Legislative, financial, and regulatory measures should encourage and support employers to hire and retain workers with disabilities while protecting them against discrimination in the workplace and providing reasonable accommodations. Social protection systems must also guarantee their universal coverage and disability inclusiveness. We also call on States Parties to the CRPD to uphold their obligation to provide persons with disabilities equal and effective legal protection against violence and discrimination on all grounds. We reiterate our support for the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy at this critical juncture, since it plays a key central role in fostering systemic and structural change on disability inclusion across the UN system. We also recognize the UN Global Disability Fund as a vital mechanism to advance disability inclusion globally. As efforts continue to strengthen coherence, efficiency, and impact across the UN system, the Fund offers a practical vehicle to translate commitments into coordinated country-level action. Through its innovative multi-stakeholder approach, the Fund has now supported over 111 programs and systemic policy changes in 100 countries, delivering tangible results and driving concrete change at the national level. Universal ratification of the Convention remains a critical goal. We urge those countries that have not yet ratified the CRPD and its Optional Protocol to consider doing so. Finally, we reaffirm our respective commitments to the implementation of the CRPD and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in full partnership with persons with disabilities and their representative organizations. Building a future that upholds the principle of the disability movement: nothing about us without us. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative from Women with Disabilities Australia.

Hello, Madam Speaker and English guests. My name is Claire Betholli from Women with Disabilities Australia. The supports we need to live an ordinary life should not be viewed as a radical proposition. Social and community participation supports are the baseline of what we need to engage in our communities. You cannot be a leader in your community if you do not understand what your community needs and how it works. I could not be a good spokesperson for the such as an inclusion committee where I live if I were not present and engaged in that local area. The supports I receive, like support workers, therapy, and equipment, are essential for me to access and take part in that community. Often the supports disabled women use to access their communities are portrayed as an economic burden. This can make us feel as though we need to shrink our ambitions and diminish our enjoyment of life. But when these supports are valued as an investment, they can unlock participation, leadership, and representation opportunities. The opportunity I have to speak here at the UN is proof that leadership and presentations for young people can work. But opportunities alone are not enough. We also need support to allow us to take them up. I am here because I have the support of my family and I work in a disability-positive workplace. Back home, I have the proper equipment, housing, and therapies that give me the ability to have multiple roles in disability and youth advocacy in Australia. While my advocacy is important to me, it is equally as valuable to have a rich and engaging social life as it makes me multifaceted. This is important because representation CWI requires disabled people to be fully present. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative from Solomon Islands.

President, the Solomon Islands delegation is honored to participate in the 19th session of the Conference of State Parties to the CRPD and Alliance's statement with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat statement delivered by Palau. The Solomon Islands is committed to progressively building an inclusive society that promotes the full participation of persons with disability while reducing exclusion and enhancing equal opportunities for all. We welcome this year's theme for its call to strengthen collective commitment to advancing implementation of the Convention, to which we committed 20 years ago. Madam President, the Solomon Islands became a State Party to the Convention 3 years ago. Since then, the Government has demonstrated its commitment to the implementation of the Convention through the adoption of the National Disability Inclusive Development Policy. This provides a framework for advancing disability from a public health focus to a human rights-based and and development-oriented approach. Since progress has been made in establishing structures and mechanisms to coordinate the effective cross-sectoral implementations of policies, including ongoing legislative and policy mapping and reviews to support CRPD domestication, the Ministry of Health as the government disability focal point is leading efforts to mainstream disability across government systems and promote disability-inclusive development across sectors. Rehabilitation and habilitation services guided by rehabilitation strategic plan plays a key role in promoting the resilience, independence, and functional abilities of persons with disability delivered across national and provincial levels, extending to rural communities as part of an integrated community continuum of care including assistive device provisions. Significant progress has been made in civic engagement and political participation through the establishment of a disability advisory mechanism within the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission. This has strengthened inclusive electoral processes and supported the meaningful participation of persons with disability in advisory, community, civic, and public life. Reflecting a continuing commitment to equal opportunities, accessibility, and active citizenship. While progress has been made, significant changes remain, particularly over 10% of our population lives with disability, a figure likely to increase with growing prevalence of non-communicable disease. The plight of persons with disability is exacerbated by the impacts of climate change, geographical spread of our islands, and competing priorities for limited resources. Through strong partnership and coordination, we can enhance national efforts. Thank you very much.

Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative from Azerbaijan on behalf of Group of State Parties. You have 5 minutes.

Madam Vice President, I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of Albania, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Türkiye, Vietnam, and my own country, Azerbaijan. The overarching theme of COP19 CRPD@20, celebrating and consolidating achievements and shaping the next phase of implementation in a changing world, suggests a timely opportunity for State Parties to take stock of the realization of human rights for persons with disabilities under the Convention and to identify gaps and challenges. We reaffirm the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, which recognize the inherent dignity and worth and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world. The World Health Organization's fact sheet on persons with disabilities indicates that around 15% of the world's population lives with disabilities, which necessitates enhanced and careful attention by the international community and State parties in providing conducive conditions for their participation as equal members of society. Madam Vice President, while underlining the importance of mainstreaming disability issues as an integral part of relevant sustainable development strategies, we reaffirm our commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which is inclusive of persons with disabilities. We also recognize that the contributions of persons with disabilities are essential to the full and effective implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, in line with the pledge to leave no one behind. In this regard, the Convention's human rights protections must be ensured for persons with disabilities in all circumstances, including those in conflict and post-conflict settings affected by mines, explosives, Explosive Remnants of War and Improvised Explosive Devices. Madam Vice President, the Secretary-General's latest report on assistance in mine action underscored that millions of people in conflict and post-conflict settings continue to risk injury and death or suffer from limited access to basic services due to mines and explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices. Moreover, the report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities highlighted that conflicts increase the prevalence of disability within the population through newly acquired disabilities, with many of those individuals facing the same barriers and challenges as persons with existing disabilities but without the previous lived experience. We stress that international support needs to be accelerated to advance disability prevention in conflict and post-conflict settings, particularly in the establishment, development, and effective functioning of national mine action capacities. At the same time, building national capacities for emergency and continued medical care, physical rehabilitation and prosthetics, psychological support and social rehabilitation, education, and economic reintegration for all persons with disabilities is of paramount importance to address the needs of persons with disabilities. In conclusion, on this 20th anniversary of the Convention, we reiterate our strong commitment to this landmark treaty which elaborates in detail the rights of persons with disabilities and sets out a code of implementation and to take measures of prevention, habilitation and rehabilitation, and equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative from the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind, commonly known as Sight Savers.

Thank you. I'm speaking today on behalf of the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind, commonly known as Sight Savers. This session marks 20 years of the CRPD, 20 years of shared language and of real progress on disability rights around the world. But as we mark this milestone, we must also be honest about the risks to the very mechanisms that have driven this progress. One of the most significant and pressing is the financing to deliver the commitments that have been made. Earlier this year, many of you will be aware that the CRPD session nearly didn't go ahead due to a lack of accessibility measures. This is not a technical oversight, it represents a structural failure to ensure inclusion within UN processes. Of course, this is just one example, but it's a stark one. When the body charged with monitoring the CRPD cannot guarantee accessible participation, the Convention's own principles are undermined. This sits within a broader shifting and challenging global financial landscape. We know how catastrophic cuts to ODA have been, and the UN faces significant financial challenges. In many low- and middle-income countries, governments face levels of debt that threaten their ability to deliver public services. These shifts do not mean it's time to step back. They mean it's time for all of us to redouble our efforts. We meet to talk about the CRPD in the midst of UN discussions about UN reform processes. This process is critical to ensure that the UN can meet global challenges and ensure the effective multilateralism continues. We ask member states to not see inclusion and human rights as separate to this process, but as the foundation for the how the UN involves. We welcome the launch of UNDIS 2.0 this week. This is an opportunity that must not be wasted. A revised UN Disability Inclusion Strategy also needs a revised financing model, and we call on member states to ensure that it is systematically and fully resourced within the general budget. This is not detached from conversations on UN reform. Investing in UNDIS is not only a matter of principle but also of effectiveness, a systematic way of ensuring disability inclusion is addressed across the UN system. In supporting member states to implement the CRPD. Of course, international financing is and never has been the full picture, and it must be used in support of domestic financing. We urge state parties to make sure you understand who your budgets reach and who they do not, and to meaningfully budget for inclusion. As multilateralism reshapes and as new financing mechanisms and approaches are explored, we call on all member states to place inclusion at the center. We call on you to be bold and ambitious, even when discussions are hard and when inclusion is challenged. The CRPD has given us a framework for action and a shared global vision. 20 years on, this is as relevant as ever, and it's time to give it and the mechanisms that serve it the resources they need to make the rights of persons with disabilities a reality. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative from Sri Lanka.

As we mark the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Sri Lanka is honored to preside over this conference and also to pay tribute to two decades of progress in advancing the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. The Convention has helped shape policies and attitudes across the world. Sri Lanka's commitment rests on a foundation laid well before our ratification of the Convention in 2016. Today, we are working to strengthen this framework. New disability rights legislation is being advanced to bring our domestic law fully in line fully in line with the Convention. Our National Disability Policy and Action Plan are being renewed, and Sri Lanka is finalizing legislation to recognize sign language as a formal medium of communication. We have prioritized dignified living conditions and institutional infrastructure improvements. Sri Lanka has programs that are designed to boost independence and full participation. We reserve a share of public sector positions for persons with disabilities. In the digital sphere, government institutions have been directed to adopt Unicode-compliant fonts, improving access to digital information in our national languages. The full participation of persons with disabilities in public life is fundamental to inclusive societies. We are encouraged that a visually impaired member was appointed to our Parliament through the National List, helping ensure that the perspectives of persons with disabilities are reflected in national policy and public discourse. We strongly promote rehabilitation, empowerment, and reintegration of persons of disability. Sri Lanka recognizes that psychosocial well-being and family support are essential to preventing institutional trauma and emotional neglect. Family-based initiatives and regular family gatherings are also encouraged to rebuild relationships and support successful reintegration into society. Earlier this week, we had the privilege of hearing from Ms. Nilshani De Silva, a young Sri Lankan advocate with Down syndrome, who spoke about the importance of being accepted and included by her family, her friends, and her community. Her words are a powerful reminder that the objectives of this Convention are ultimately felt in the daily lives of persons with disabilities and in their ability to participate fully in society. Furthermore, Sri Lanka has initiated measures to introduce regulatory guidelines for residential care homes for older persons. Sri Lanka remains fully committed to continuously improving institutional care systems in line with constitutional guarantees, international human rights obligations, and humanitarian principles. The success of this Convention lies in whether persons with disabilities can live with dignity and on equal terms with the rest. As we mark the 20 years, Sri Lanka recommits to the goal alongside persons with disabilities. Thank you very much.

Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative from Poland.

Okay, Madame Vice President, 20 years ago, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities fundamentally changed the way the world understands disability. Before the CRPD, persons with disabilities were too often viewed through the lenses of charity, care, or medicine. The Convention established a different vision: persons with disabilities are rights holders, equal citizens, and active participants in society.

It gave global meaning to the principle "Nothing about us without us." Over the past two decades, this transformation has changed how we think about accessibility, education, employment, and political participation.

For Poland, perhaps the most important lesson from the CRPD is that disability inclusion benefits not only the persons with disabilities, but society as a whole. Yet the Convention was never meant to be the end of the process, it was the beginning Over time, its principles have inspired change far beyond traditional disability policy, influencing development, humanitarian action, peace and security. We have been proud to contribute to this evolution. UN Security Council Resolution 2475, proposed by Poland and the United Kingdom in 2019, sought to bring the spirit of the Convention into the work of the Security Council. In many ways, it represents a continuation of the CRPD journey. Extending the principles of dignity, participation, inclusion and agency to situations of armed conflicts and humanitarian crises. The message was simple but transformative: persons with disabilities are now decision-makers and essential partners in prevention, response, recovery and peacebuilding efforts. Today, numerous conflicts across the world remind us why this vision matters. For Poland, Russia's aggression against Ukraine brings these realities particularly close to home. The war creates new disabilities and compounds existing inequalities. Across the world, persons with disabilities face heightened risks in conflict, a challenge that requires a global response. Distinguished Delegates, Poland has had the privilege of serving as Vice President of the Bureau of this Conference during the last two sessions. We are grateful for the trust placed in us and proud to contribute as committed champions of disability inclusion. Together with our fellow Bureau members, we sought to ensure that this Conference remains both responsive to the priorities of persons with disabilities and forward-looking in its implementation of the Convention. In that spirit, this Conference has, for the first time in its history, dedicated thematic discussions to both violence against persons with disabilities and care and support systems. Their inclusion reflects the continuing evolution of the CRPD agenda and our shared commitment to addressing challenges that have long shaped the lives of persons with disabilities, yet have not always received the visibility and attention they deserve. 20 years ago, the Convention changed how the world regards disability. Let us ensure that over the next 20 years it changes what the world makes possible for persons with disabilities. And I thank you.

Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative from Israel.

Thank you, Chair. It is an honor to address you today as Israel's Commissioner for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The true strength of a society is not measured in times of calm. It is measured under pressure, under fire. The real threat is not only the emergency itself, but the risk that any disrupted routine holds. That is a test my country has been facing since October 7th, 2023. Article 11 of the Convention speaks directly to this duty to protect persons with disabilities in situations of risk and humanitarian emergency. Since that day, we have lived this Article not as a principle, but a daily reality. For a person who cannot run to a shelter, who cannot hear a siren, or who cannot flee without help, an emergency is not an abstraction. It is a question of survival. Let me be direct: a prolonged state of war has not led us to retreat from the rights of persons with disabilities. It has done the opposite. It has sharpened our resolve and multiplied our investment. When emergency strikes, first responders must know reliably and accurately who needs help and what kind. Since 2024, we have been building a regulatory framework and a dedicated database with a focal point in every local authority linked across all emergency systems. Accurate information in the right hands at the right moment saves lives. We're also advancing regulations for the essential needs of people with disabilities in emergencies: accessible shelters, accessible alerts, including for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and the continuity of essential services. These are not conveniences. They are the difference between inclusion and abandonment. And we have built human infrastructure so that no person with a disability faces a crisis alone. This work sits within our broader mandate to implement and monitor the Convention. In 2025, the Commission handled nearly 8,000 inquiries and complaints from the public. Compensation awarded by courts for rights violations continues to rise, which is a plain signal of how seriously Israel takes these rights. And we keep holding organizations to their duty of adequate representation in employment. A society reveals what it truly values not in what it promises, but in what it protects when everything is at stake. This test is not Israel's alone. When emergency comes to any of us, the Convention must be what holds, not what gives away. We choose, in real time, to protect the rights and the dignity of every person with a disability. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative from the Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry.

Thank you. As someone who is deeply involved in the drafting and negotiations creating the norms for the The abolition of involuntary committal and compulsory treatment was a high point in my life and a milestone for users and survivors of psychiatry. We could not be certain of the interpretation of Articles 12, 14, and 15, but our legal basis was sound. The CRPD Committee's general comment on Article 12, guidelines on liberty and security of the person, guidelines on deinstitutionalization, recent inquiry report confirm our success, along with the work of special rapporteurs on torture and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Even the World Health Organization acknowledges the requirement to end psychiatric coercion. The Organization of American States and African Union have built on Articles 12, 14, and 15 in norms and guidance materials. Yet the standard is not uniform. The Human Rights Committee and Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture maintain contrary standards. European Convention on Human Rights Article 5.1 requires reinterpretation, and we face serious retrogression if the draft additional protocol to the Bioethics Convention is adopted. Many CRPD states parties have not adapted implemented their law and practice to Articles 12, 14, and 15 at all. A handful have eliminated most legal capacity deprivation, and one has legislated a duty to respect legal capacity in mental health services. But even these countries retain contrary provisions authorizing involuntary committal and compulsory treatment. Survivors throughout the world bear witness to serious harm: abandonment by the state, society, and family to discriminatory detention; coercive administration of neuroleptic drugs, a form of torture; subjection to electroshock, which destroys memory; mechanical restraints and shackling; and solitary confinement. Organizing for support and advocacy, we educate, create alternative practices, draft law and policy, and conduct strategic litigation while living with discrimination and stereotyping. 20 years on, we celebrate our achievements and renew our call to States Parties, NHRI, human rights mechanisms, universities, and NGOs to align themselves with survivors' aspirations for the full abolition of of involuntary committal and compulsory treatment, upholding the letter and spirit of the convention we have created together. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative from Peru.

Distinguidos delegados.

Distinguished delegates. Representatives of the States Parties, members of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and representatives of civil society, it is an honor to address you in the context of the 20th anniversary of the adoption of this convention. The Peruvian State is committed to consolidating the progress that has been achieved, such as through the adoption of the strategy for the implementation of Support and Safeguard Systems, which was a firm step towards achieving persons with disabilities being able to exercise their legal status. What's more, through the recent amendment to the regulation on the General Law of Persons with Disabilities, the provision of services and personalized assistance as well as care for persons with disabilities is regulated. It also recognizes the the importance of reconciling family life and work in the face of care needs related to this vulnerable population group. At the same time, we recognize the importance of inclusive, good quality education services, and we continue to strengthen educational support, accessibility resources, and reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. Similarly, we have been developing tools to facilitate their participation in dialogue bodies with the aim of strengthening active, equal, and representative participation, the exchange of knowledge and experience on disabilities, as well as identifying barriers, needs, and expectations. This proposal has been worked on together with civil society organizations and it involves a broad participatory consultation process before it was approved. Moreover, Peru reaffirms that access to decent work and to economic development is an essential condition for the full exercise of the rights of persons with disabilities. Along the same lines, we continue to strengthen measures to promote their labor inclusion and equal opportunities by promoting accessible job opportunities, accommodation measures, and measures to increase their employability and learning. Our participation in this 19th session doesn't end today. Peru reiterates its commitment to continue strengthening international cooperation to make ensure that the voices, the leadership, and the contributions of persons with disabilities be valued as an essential part of a full citizenry. Let us continue working together with the firm conviction that every policy that is implemented brings us closer to—

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative President from Paraguay. Muchas gracias, señora presidenta.

Thank you very much, Madam President. The delegation of the Republic of Paraguay has the honor to address this conference at a moment of particular historic significance. We are commemorating the 20th anniversary of the adoption of our convention, and we reaffirm our commitment to the principles of dignity, individual autonomy, full participation, which are the pillars that sustain our national public policy. Paraguay commends the theme this year of celebrating and consolidating achievements and laying out the next phase of implementation in a changing world. Our country has made determined progress towards a human rights-based model fully in line with the development vision of our government. And we do this in order to address current challenges, focusing on three main pillars. The first pillar is guaranteeing integrity and security as a basis for autonomy. For Paraguay, the eradication of all forms of violence, exploitation, and abuse against persons with disabilities is an essential condition for inclusion. Therefore, we have mainstreamed the disability perspective within our national care plan, as well as strengthening protection environments that facilitate the exercise of an independent life. The second pillar is institutional resilience that is based on evidence. In this regard, Paraguay has put together the first Disability Atlas. This is a tool that brings together information from various different public institutions to identify gaps in the areas of healthcare, education, employment, and access to services. We are currently moving towards a second phase of this focused on harmonizing administrative registers and strengthening the quality of information to ensure more efficient decision-making. Moreover, we have implemented a technical reform in the disability certification process. By digitalizing and decentralizing this process, we are reducing geographical and administrative barriers and facilitating effective access to social programs and basic services. The third pillar is inclusive governance and effective representation. The Government of Paraguay recognizes the National Commission of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a strategic space for consultation, and in that regard, we have strengthened participation mechanisms to make sure that the voice of civil society is listened to when making public policy. Madam President, Paraguay is in a phase of deep-rooted transformation. We reiterate our will to cooperate closely with the States Parties and with the entities of the international system to exchange experience that can strengthen the implementation of this convention. Our objective is clear.

Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative from Tajikistan.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, as part of the opening ceremony for The Water for Sustainable Development celebrations, the founders and the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Mr. Rahmon, signed a convention on the rights of disabled persons in the UN. So thus, we have become a state party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. And this was assisted by USG Miguel de Cervas Suárez. The plan has been developed and its provisions have led to activities being set up. We have conducted consultations during that period with associations for persons with disabilities to introduce amendments, international legislation to make sure they are in line with the UN Convention. So over that period, a state program on accessibility for— and on education up to 2045 has been adopted, a national rehabilitation plan for persons with disability. We have a draft law as well on the rights of persons with disabilities, and international experts do deem this to be in line with the Convention. So over the past 20 years since the CRPD was adopted in our country, we have partnered with civil society organizations, international organizations, and we are working on activities to implement the provisions of the convention. We, on the 3rd of December every year, celebrate the Day of Disabled Persons. And also for elder persons. This year we're planning two events with the participation of international organizations. We are planning this year on the 3rd of December to have a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the convention. We want to have a roadmap to see how we're going to achieve new measures and new targets to ensure the rights and social protections of persons with disabilities. So at the Social Development Summit, we have seen that leaving no one behind is a key element. Persons with disabilities should not just be perceived as people who receive assistance but who also enjoy equal rights and opportunities. The Republic of Tajikistan done, is going to continue to implement state support measures for persons with disability and elder persons to improve their lives, to improve their independence. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative from— excuse me— from Women Enabled International.

Thank you, Chair. I make this statement on behalf of the 5 organizations of feminists with disabilities. 20 years after adoption, the Convention's central problem is not longer recognition, it's implementation. Nearly every state represented here has ratified it, yet across right after right, implementation remains far below what the Convention requires and this gap is widest for multiple marginalized communities, such as those from class, caste, sexual orientation, gender identity minorities, indigenous, and ethnicity minorities. The CRDPD continues to be treated and its aspiration by States Parties rather than allowing the fundamental foundation for human rights. States Parties continues to treat TSRDPD and the rights of people with disabilities is optional rather than central to international human rights compliance, realization, and recognition. Global political agenda continues to ignore us. The systems of oppression overlap, and when we deny this reality, we erase the people who live the intersection of gender, disability, and race. I speak from this place as someone who lives this Inclusion. Nobody described it. And from that position, I ask, what is required for us to move beyond this model? These are not single paths, but they are directions we can no longer postpone. The proposed Guidelines on International Forms of Discrimination Against Women and Girls with Disabilities is a step towards the recognition and realization of rights and justice for people, especially women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities. A Feminist with Disability as a Guide has become a valuable tool for us, Hold Power to Account. For decades, we have been in the forefront of response to violations of our rights by state and non-state actors. We are imagining the next decade for CDPD. We need our governments and state parties to put words to action. We don't need empty promises for upholding the rights and justice of people with disabilities. We need action and accountability in the funding. We need a disaggregated data policy which works for us and with us, not against us. We need our democracies to be protected and our rights to live a free from— live life free from violence and discrimination. We don't need empathy and food and promise and absolutely don't need control of our bodies, autonomy, dignity, and mights. Accountability, not hostility towards states, is the condition for ratification to become a reality. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative from Bahrain on behalf of GCC, Gulf Cooperation Council. You have 5 minutes.

Madam Chair, Excellencies, heads of delegations, ladies and gentlemen, may the peace and blessings of God be with you. On behalf of the GCC Gulf Cooperation Council, the UAE, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, the State of Kuwait, allow me at the outset to elect the the presidency and the vice presidents for their election. We wish them every success at the helm of the 19th Conference of State Parties. We also express our appreciation for the choice of this theme regarding the CRPT, 20 years after its adoption, achievements, and the future implementation in a changing world. World. Madam Chair, ladies and gentlemen, the GCC countries believe that the promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities is a human and developmental obligation. It is part and parcel of achieving sustainable development and building societies based on equality and non-discrimination as well as dignity. This would be Guaranteeing rights for all persons without discrimination. Throughout the last years, our country is continuing the development of our public legislations and policies in line with the CRPD. We focused on enhancing accessibility, delivering education, health, and rehabilitation services, as well as guaranteeing the full participation and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in their societies. Furthermore, we gave utmost importance to empowering economically and socially persons with disabilities by offering further education, training, and employment opportunities, as well as using assistive technologies in order to enhance their autonomy and improve their quality of life and to participate effectively. Madam Chair, ladies and gentlemen, multilateral action is necessary to help member states to work towards a future where AI is used to empower persons with disabilities. This includes technology, access to education, healthcare services, and care so that they are able to meaningfully participate in their societies. Our countries reiterate their steadfast commitment to the principles of the CRPD. We remain committed to working with the international community and all partners in order to promote the rights of persons with disabilities and in order to guarantee their full and equal participation in all aspects of life. We further reiterate the necessity to develop support and care systems so that persons with disabilities enjoy autonomy— in line with Article 19 of the CRPD regarding independent living. We also stress that the situation of persons with disabilities in conflict-affected countries, regions, and crisis-affected regions might be taken into account. They must be able to access basic services without discrimination. This is in line with humanitarian principles and international law. To conclude, We look forward that the deliberations of this conference will enhance international efforts for more equitable, more inclusive societies, and to implement the CRPD in policies and practical programs that would improve the lives of persons with disabilities everywhere in the world. I thank you. May the peace of God be upon you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative from Republic of Korea.

Distinguished delegates, first I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the Secretary for his dedicated efforts in organizing this meeting. This year is significant as it marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Over the past two decades, the CRPD has fundamentally changed the way we understand disability. It has made clear that persons with disabilities are not objects of protection, but holders of rights. It has also helped us understand disability not as an individual problem, but as a matter of social barriers. The Republic of Korea signed the Convention on the first Convention Day is often first signature in 2007 and has remained firmly committed to a full and effective implementation. In 2022, Korea has also ratified the Optional Protocol, further strengthening its engagement with the efforts of the international community. Guided by the Paris Principles that persons with disabilities are holders of rights, the Korean government enacted Disability Act on guaranteeing the rights of persons with disabilities in this way, uh, this year. Through this act, Korea has set out in a law that all persons are entitled to fundamental rights such as the rights to dignity, equality, self-determination, safety, education, and accessibility. Korea has also adopted its first comprehensive plan in the field of health and medical care for persons with abilities, laying the foundation for disability service policies over the next 5 years. In addition, we have expanded the personal budget scheme to enhance individuals' choice over the services while promoting independent living in the community rather than in institutions. We are expanding support and integrated care programs so that people with severe people with disabilities can continue to lead fulfilling lives within their own communities. At the same time, we are continuously improving mobility and information access. This includes expanding the number of low-floor buses, launching an integrated booking system for paratransit services, and fully implementing accessibility standards for self-service circus. Despite these efforts, we are well aware that more work is needed before all persons with disabilities can fully feel these changes in their daily lives. We will continue to strengthen the institutional foundation and further develop these policies so that they lead to real improvements in quality of life, remaining fully committed to the implementation of the Convention. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative from Romania.

Madam Vice President, Romania welcomes the opportunity to participate in this session marking the 20th anniversary of the CRPD.

This milestone offers us an important occasion to reflect on progress achieved, to consolidate existing gains, and advance the full implementation of the Convention in in a rapidly changing world.

Romania ratified the Convention in 2010. Since then, the Convention has served as the cornerstone of Romania's efforts to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities and to ensure their equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Our National Authority for the Protection of Rights of Persons with Disabilities works closely with other public institutions, with local authorities, civil society organizations, and persons with disabilities themselves to ensure that the rights enshrined in the CRPD are fully realized in practice.

In recent years, Romania has strengthened its policy and institutional framework to accelerate this process.

We are in the process of implementing our National Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2022-2027, as well as our National Strategy on Preventing the Institutionalization of Adults with Disabilities and Accelerating the Deinstitutionalization Process 2022-2030.

Our efforts are guided by the conviction that genuine inclusion requires full empowerment. Through the development of community-based services, access to personal assistance, support for mobility, employment opportunities, and adequate financial resources, Romania seeks to ensure that persons with disabilities can exercise full choice and full control over their lives and participate fully in their communities.

Looking ahead, we remain committed to addressing the remaining challenges in CRPD implementation.

Implementation.

Our key areas of focus include expanding community-based support services, enhancing accessibility and mobility, promoting inclusive employment, ensuring adequate resources, and supporting independent living for persons with disabilities. We remain fully committed to achieving the goal of an inclusive society where persons with disabilities are recognized not as beneficiaries of care, but as equal rights holders, active members of their communities, and full participants in all aspects Beacons of Light. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative from Zimbabwe.

Thank you, Madam Chair. 20 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, we have an opportunity to reflect on the progress achieved while renewing our commitment to the work that remains ahead. For Zimbabwe, the promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities remains a national priority. We are committed to ensuring that all citizens can fully participate in the social, economic, and political affairs of the nation. This commitment is rooted in our broader vision of leaving no one and no place behind. Since ratifying the Convention in 2013, Zimbabwe has taken the deliberate steps to strengthen disability inclusion. We have enacted the Persons with Disabilities Act, launched the National Disability Policy, and established implementation mechanisms at both national and provincial levels. We have also developed tools to promote accessibility, inclusion, and equal opportunities in public life. Beyond policy, our focus remains on improving lives. The government of Zimbabwe continues to expand access to education, healthcare, assistive technologies, rehabilitation services, economic empowerment programs, and psychosocial support. Particular attention is also being given to victims of landmines and others requiring specialized support to reintegrate into their communities. At the same time, we recognize that inclusion requires continuous dialogue and partnership. In this regard, Zimbabwe convened its inaugural National Disability Symposium in May 2020 bringing together a broad range of stakeholders to advance disability inclusion. Later this month, we will host a National Disability Expo where persons with disabilities will take center stage as innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders. Madam Chair, while we are encouraged by the progress made, we remain conscious of the challenges that persist. Many persons with disabilities continue to face stigma, discrimination and exclusion. Barriers to physical accessibility remain significant. Gaps in disaggregated data continue to affect evidence-based policymaking. Moreover, the impacts of climate change often fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable, including persons with disabilities. In conclusion, let us use this conference not only to celebrate progress but to chart a clear and action-oriented path Zimbabwe reaffirms its commitment to working with all stakeholders to advance the rights, dignity, and inclusion of persons with disabilities. I thank you.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative from Disabled People's International. Okay.

Honorable Chair, distinguished delegates, CSO representative and UN representative, very good morning. I am Abdu Sattar Doolal, World President of Disabled People's International, DPI. First, I pay tribute to the founders of DPI and proudly represent our global movement. Since 1980, DPI has played a transformative role in advancing the rights and development of persons with disabilities. Through its 140 national assemblies and thousands of organizations of persons with disabilities, DPI has helped to improve the lives of more than 1.3 billion disabled people in the world. And the DPI has helped improve the lives of more than 1.3 billion persons with disabilities worldwide. Our work also contributes to face social change and economic growth of the nations. Honorable Chair, persons with disabilities, active persons with disability, disabled people are active citizens. They pay tax, vote, and contribute to their family and societies. Yet in many developing nations, fewer than 10% of persons with disability receive the service they need. At the same time, OPDs receive less than 1% of available development resource. We therefore call on donors to fund OPDs directly and development partners to strengthen their work. We also ask government to establish direct funding mechanism and sign agreement with OPDs and allocate annual budget to support them investing in persons with disabilities is not a cost. It is to strengthen economics and increase national productivity and tax revenue. We further call on the United Nations to lead by example. At least 16% of the UN workforce should be persons with disabilities, and persons with disabilities' acceptable development should be reflected across UN programs and budgets. The UN and its member states should review their policies and laws to ensure full compliance with the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you very much. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative from Czechia.

Thank you, Madam Vice President. We are honored to address the 19th session of the Conference of State Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Czech Republic fully aligns itself with the statement delivered by the European Union. Allow me to highlight progress made by the Czech Republic in promotion the rights of persons with Persons with Disabilities and implementing the Convention. In April 2026, the Czech government approved the National Plan for Promoting Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities for the period 2026 to 2030. Based on the Convention, this strategic document aims to ensure that persons with disabilities can fully exercise their rights and live independently without barriers. The National Plan sets strategic areas such as equal treatment, accessibility of the environment, information and services, support for independent living, inclusive education, employment, and accessible health and social care. It also promotes the participation of persons with disabilities and their organizations in political and public life, including the right to vote and the involvement in decision-making and public awareness raising. Each area contains specific objectives, concrete measures, responsible ministries, and the indicators for monitoring their fulfillment. The plan also includes a monitoring system under which ministries regularly report on implementation while the government carries out overall evaluations to identify challenges and adjust procedures as needed. In September 2025, the government approved the Action Plan for the Deinstitutionalization of Social Services for years 2026 to 2028. This plan addresses the gradual transition from large residential institutions to community-based services. Its goal is to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities and others currently living in institutional care by enabling them to live independently or with support, remain engaged in community life, and access outpatient and community-based services. The action plan includes concrete measures on developing community services, transforming residential facilities, strengthening staff support, and improving coordination. Its implementation will be monitored through established indicators in cooperation with the key stakeholders. The Czech Republic remains committed to supporting persons with disabilities in situations of vulnerability, including through humanitarian assistance and refugee support programs. In this context, as Russia's aggression against Ukraine continues, we continue to provide assistance to refugees from Ukraine, including persons with disabilities. Thank you very much.

Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative from Tunisia.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Tunisia welcomes the convening of the 19th session of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD, which coincides with the 20th anniversary of the adoption of this important convention, thus providing an opportunity to assess the progress made and to strengthen efforts to ensure the full enjoyment of the rights of persons with disabilities. We reiterate our firm commitment to the full implementation of the provisions of the CRPD and to the continued adoption of a human rights-based approach that places dignity, equality, and inclusion at the center of national policies and programs. At the national level, Tunisia continues to strengthen efforts to integrate persons with disabilities in various fields by supporting access to education, training, employment, healthcare, and social protection, as well as improving access to public services, facilities, information, and means of communication, thereby enhancing their full and effective participation in society. Tunisia also attaches special importance to the empowerment of women, girls, and youth with disabilities. We believe in the need to provide equal opportunities for all and to enhance their independence and participation in economic, social and public life. We further emphasize the importance of technology and innovation as essential elements to promote inclusion and expand opportunities for participation, learning, and work, while ensuring that these tools and technologies are equally accessible to persons with disabilities. Tunisia is proud of the outstanding successes and achievements of persons with disabilities in various fields, especially in sports, culture, and creativity, which reflects the potential and abilities that the persons with disabilities possess and emphasize the importance of continuing to remove barriers and provide an enabling environment that provides opportunities for everyone to succeed and shine. Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the CRPD is an occasion to renew our collective commitment to building more inclusive and equitable societies where rights are upheld, opportunities are available, and where people with disabilities are heard as active partners in policymaking and future shaping. Tunisia renews its commitment to advancing the promotion and empowerment of persons with disabilities, believing that the most inclusive societies are also the most powerful and capable of achieving development.

Microphone has been cut off.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative from World Institute World Institute on Disability.

Good afternoon. I am Marcie Roth, Chief Executive Officer of the World Institute on Disability. Disability-led since we were founded in 1983, 20 years after the adoption of the CRPD. Disabled people are more visible than ever. We are participating, we are consulted, we are invited to panels, forums, and advisory groups, and yet too often decisions are still being made without us. That is the difference between participation and representation. Participation means being in the room. Representation means having the power to influence what happens in the room. For decades, the disability community has fought for a seat at the table. But if we're honest, many of the world's most consequential decisions are still being made at tables where people with disabilities are absent or where our presence is symbolic rather than substantive. The G20 is one of those places. The G20 shapes global priorities on economic growth, employment, technology, artificial intelligence, climate resilience, disaster preparedness, health and development. These decisions affect the lives of 1.3 billion disabled people around the world and every community across the globe. Yet disability is rarely treated as a strategic priority. The Disability20, or the D20, exists to change that. The D20 brings together disability leaders from across the G20 countries to move disability from the margins of global policy decisions to the center of them. Not as beneficiaries, not as a special interest group, as leaders, Experts, innovators, workers, entrepreneurs, voters, taxpayers, and community builders. Throughout the 2026 G20, disability leaders in the U.S. are working together with a growing global D20, thanks to the leadership of the Brazilian 2024 D20 and the 2025 South African D20. To advance priorities that matter to all of us: accessible and responsible AI, economic opportunity and entrepreneurship, disability-inclusive climate resilience and disaster risk reduction, accessible early warning systems, stronger pathways to civic participation and leadership. But the D20 is about more than policy priorities. It is about power. Thank you.

Thank you very much for your statements, colleagues. I now declare to suspend the meeting for a 2-minute housekeeping arrangement. Because in a while the first roundtable meeting will be started in this room immediately. Since we have not exhausted our list of speakers of the general debate as decided by the Bureau, tomorrow— this afternoon from 3 PM to 4:30 PM, we shall continue the same agenda item 5A in order to hear the remainder of speakers of the general debate. Please check the updated the live speaker list. With this, the meeting is suspended but will be resumed momentarily. Thank you. is back. As you can see here now, um, it means that you can already start Colleagues, please take your seats. We're gonna be starting. Excellencies, distinguished delegates. Representatives of civil society, I call to order Roundtable 1 under the theme Creating a World Free from Exploitation, Violence, and Abuse for All Persons with Disabilities. It is my pleasure to co-chair this discussion alongside my colleague from civil society, Mrs. Sawalak Tongkwai. Sawalak serves as chairperson of the ASEAN Disability Forum. She previously served on the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from 2021 to 2024 and has dedicated more than two decades to advancing disability rights, gender equality, and inclusion across the Asia-Pacific region. To introduce myself, my name is Iwona Lula. I come from Poland, and I have had the privilege of serving on the Bureau of this conference, helping to prepare this session over the past several months. For those who cannot see me, I am rather short with shoulder-length I have dark hair and I am wearing a brown checkered suit. Together with Saulak, we will facilitate today's panel. As we mark the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Bureau of this conference wanted to use this milestone year not only to reflect on past achievements, but also to bring greater attention to issues that have not always received sufficient visibility within the conference. Together with my fellow Bureau members, we therefore chose, for the first time in history of this conference, to dedicate a roundtable specifically to the issue of violence, abuse, and exploitation against persons with disabilities of all ages and genders. This discussion is both timely and necessary. 20 years after the adoption of the Convention, persons with disabilities continue to face disproportionately high levels of violence, abuse, and exploitation exploitation around the world. Too often, this violence occurs in places where people should feel the safest: at home, in schools, in care settings, in healthcare facilities, and within their own communities. Women and girls with disabilities, children, persons living in institutions, and those affected by conflict and humanitarian crisis often face the greatest risks. We also know that violence can take many forms: physical, psychological, sexual, or economic. Persons with disabilities are also disproportionately vulnerable to trafficking, labor exploitation, and increasingly also abuse in digital spaces. The Convention, particularly Article 16, provides a strong framework for action, and many countries have made important progress in strengthening laws, policies, and investing in support services. In Poland, for example, The government program for counteracting domestic violence for the years 2024 to 2030 places particular emphasis on preventing violence against those in vulnerable situations, including persons with disabilities. Yet a significant gap remains between commitments on paper and realities on the ground. Too many survivors still face barriers to reporting abuse, accessing services, and obtaining justice. That is why Today's discussion is so important. It brings together governments, experts, civil society, and persons with disabilities themselves to exchange experiences, identify what works, and discuss where more needs to be done. I hope our conversation will focus on practical solutions: how to prevent violence before it occurs, how to make reporting and support systems accessible, how to strengthen evidence and data, and how to ensure that persons with disabilities and their representative organizations are fully involved in shaping responses. I also hope we will reflect on the root causes of violence, as well as emerging challenges linked to new technologies and online abuse. We look forward to a rich and forward-looking discussion. And with that, I am pleased to hand the floor back to my co-chair, Souad Al-Akkar, who will introduce our panelists and lead us through their presentations.

Thank you very much, Miss Ivona Lula. Dear colleagues, it is my great honor to introduce and invite our first panelist, Dr. Ahmed Bin Zayed Al Zaid, to the floor. Dr. Ahmed Bin Zayed Al Zaid is a legal and human rights expert specializing in disability rights international frameworks. He is a board member of the Human Rights Commission and a board member of authorities for the care of persons with disabilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He previously served as a member of the Shura Council of Saudi Parliament. Dr. Alsaif also served as an expert member of the UN Committee Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from 2017 to 2020. Dr. Alfaz, welcome to the floor. The floor now is yours. Please remember to keep to 10-minute time limit for your presentation. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, 20 years have passed since the adoption of the CRPD, and despite this, despite this, persons with disabilities still face high levels of violence, exploitation, and abuse, often in places meant to provide care and protection. This points to a critical gap, not in recognizing rights, but in implementing these rights and turning them into effective protection. I am pleased to participate in this roundtable, and I would like to start in brief with the main idea. This goal cannot be achieved only by condemning violations or responding after they happen. The goal is achieved by building systems and by making prevention a core function of these systems. It, it must not be simply a response. This is consistent with states' obligations as part of the Convention, especially Article 16 on protection and protection from abuse, and Article 13 regarding access to justice. And also Article 3, Paragraph 4 on the effective participation of persons with disabilities. Ladies and gentlemen, experience shows that some of the most serious forms of abuse do not happen only in public spaces. They can also occur in environments that are meant to provide support and care. And in some cases, there are systems that still rely on protective measures without enough safeguards or leave individuals without real support. This can create environments where abuse can occur or continue without early detection. This is the real challenge—how to balance protection and independence. Protection without clear safeguards can become control and guardianship. Independence without support can expose some people to risk. This is why we need a preventive justice approach. So building a system that reduces the risk of harm before it happens, detects it early, and responds to it in time. Based on this, I suggest 3 practical approaches. First, increase the clarity of legal obligations. It is not enough to punish violations after they occur. We must define clear duties for service providers and competent authorities. This includes providing accessible environments, easy reporting systems, and removing barriers to justice. As required under Article 13. The goal is not merely to punish violations, but also to prevent the risks from happening in the first place. Second, effective independent monitoring. Prevention cannot happen without oversight. And oversight, including by national human rights institutions, should focus on clear indicators such as ease of reporting, speed of response, and effective investigation and protection against retaliation. This is what helps to detect risks in an early fashion and prevents it from becoming a pattern. Third, empowering persons with disabilities as partners in protection. We cannot build effective protection systems without the participation of persons with disability, and this happens through facilitated— through accessible reporting channels and awareness of rights and protection against retaliation. This is not optional. It is a legal obligation under Article 3, Paragraph 4. When complaint systems are accessible and effective and secure, they become a mechanism for early protection and not just a means for reporting after the harm has occurred. Ladies and gentlemen, this is even more important for women and children with disabilities and for those living in institutions or vulnerable situations where the risk of violence and abuse is higher, requiring more specific and sensitive responses. To implement these approaches, we need better data and effective remedies and supporting independent living and community integration in line with Article 19. We also need to build the capacities of institutions and to train professionals to, uh, identify early signs of violence, and to communicate with respect and dignity. Technology can also support oversight and prevention efforts, but it cannot ever replace law or oversight or accountability. In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, the challenge is not just to respond to violence after it has occurred, but to build systems that reduce the risk of harm and detect it early and respond effectively and respect dignity and autonomy. By balancing protection in this way, we can move closer to a world free from exploitation, violence, and abuse, not merely as a slogan but as a lived reality for persons with disabilities. Thank you. I thank Dr.

Alfrey for his excellent presentations. Our next speaker will be Dr. Diana Piantedosi. Dr. Diana Piantedosi is a Senior Manager of Policy and Advocacy at Women with Disability Australia. Previously, Dr. Piente Dose was a Director of Policy, Advocacy and Community Engagement at Women with Disabilities Victoria, or WDV. WDV managed 3 programs portfolios and co-led a natural partnership with our Watch, translating the Australia's evidence-based on preventing violence against women and girls with disability into a policy framework and practical tools, which were recognized through 2024 National Disability Awards and 2025 Good Design Awards for Social Impact. Dr. Piente Dose, welcome to the panel. For East viewers, please remember to keep to the 10-minute time limit for your presentation. Thank you very much. Thank you,

Chair. It is an honor to speak alongside my fellow panelists and join this discussion with distinguished delegates, advocates, and civil society leaders. I begin by acknowledging the leadership of women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disability whose evidence and advocacy have shaped the global movement for rights, safety, and justice. This roundtable asks how we create a world free from exploitation, violence, and abuse for all persons with disabilities. I approach that question through the work of Women with Disabilities Australia, known as WIDDA, the national disabled people's organization for women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disability in Australia. I will make 4 points. First, the next phase of CRPD implementation must make hidden violence visible, including violence occurring outside of intimate partner relationships. Second, laws, services, and data must recognize violence as a misuse of power, including when that power sits inside systems. For example, this involves recognising where guardianship laws enable forms of violence like forced sterilisation to occur. Third, governments must fund implementation led by disabled people's organisations. Fourth, State parties must recognise and fund social and community participation as an essential violence prevention safeguard. In Australia, a 4-year national inquiry investigated violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability. This process, known as the Disability Royal Commission, gave us a major evidence base for reform. Recommendation 8.24 called for disability-inclusive definitions of family and domestic violence recognising that violence can occur across a broader range of relationships and locations, including support relationships, service settings, and group homes. Definitions influence more than legal language. They shape what experiences are named as violence, abuse, and neglect, and they guide the design of crisis responses, including financial support to reach safety. Australia has a national financial support program to help eligible victim survivors leave violence. We welcome this measure because it recognizes that money can be a condition of safety. However, the current package is worth $5,000, while the average cost of leaving abuse in Australia is estimated at around $18,000. For people with disability, the cost can be even higher, including when leaving requires moving or or replacing assistive technology and equipment. Eligibility is also tied to leaving a violent intimate partner relationship. That leaves a gap for women with disability who experience violence in other relationships or settings. The person causing harm may be another family member. It may be a co-resident in group assisted living. Her need for safety is just as urgent, but the pathway to support may be narrowed. Narrow definitions have practical consequences. They shape access to crisis payments, service pathways, data collection, and legal recognition. The same recognition gap appears when violence is perpetrated by paid staff, including support workers or service providers. A harmful act may be handled as a provider compliance issue or a workplace matter. That pathway may address conduct issues or service failure, but it can miss the domestic nature of the setting and our right to safety at home. This recognition issue appears again in how we define and measure economic abuse. In Australia, national data often looks at abuse between intimate partners who live together. On that measure, women with disability are almost twice as likely to report economic abuse as women without disability. But this measure cannot capture the full picture. For women and gender diverse people with disability, financial control may come through a family member who manages a bank account, a co-resident who controls household costs, or a support arrangement that gives another person power over disability funding. The issue is still economic, but the relationship does not always fit the definition being measured. WIDA's 2025 survey found that 41.8% of respondents reported economic abuse. This shows why better data does not only mean more data, it means asking the right questions in accessible ways about the forms of violence that people with disability actually experience. The next phase of CRPD implementation also requires stronger protection of reproductive autonomy. Forced sterilization, forced contraception, and menstrual suppression sit at the intersection of gender-based violence, disability discrimination, and reproductive control. They show how violence can be authorised through systems that present themselves as protective or clinical. In recommendation 6.41, the Disability Royal Commission called for legislative prohibition of non-therapeutic sterilisation of people with disability. WIDDA have long advocated for nationally consistent laws that prohibit the sterilisation of children and adults with disability without their own free, prior and fully informed consent. Courts and guardianship systems should not be able to provide substitute consent for sterilisation. Sterilisation should only occur where there is an immediate threat to the person's life. The same principle applies to forced contraception and menstrual suppression. When free, prior and informed consent is present, these practices should be recognized as reproductive control and gender-based violence. They must never be used as a substitute for preventing or responding to sexual violence. Prevention must also address the drivers of violence. In Australia, the evidence base Changing the Landscape, developed by Our Watch and Women with Disabilities Victoria, shows that violence against women and girls with disability is driven by the interaction of gender inequality and ableism. Gender inequality limits independence. Ableism denies autonomy through assumptions about capacity. Together, they allow control over women and girls with disability to be mistaken for care, protection, or inevitability. In my previous role, I helped lead the partnership between Our Watch and Women with Disabilities Victoria to translate Changing the Landscape into practice resources. This Australian government-funded partnership turned the evidence into tools for prevention practitioners, disability services, policymakers, and the mainstream community. The project recognised that people engage with evidence in different ways. Some need a short video they can use in training. Others need a case study to guide team discussion. Some may listen to a podcast between meetings or use an infographic to start a conversation online. These formats gave us different entry points into the same evidence base. The project was led by lived experience. A victim-survivor advisory group of women and gender diverse people with disability made formative decisions in shaping the resources. The project received national recognition, including the Excellence in Innovation Award and a Good Design Award for social impact. This shows what becomes possible when governments partner with disabled people's organisations and invest in our leadership. A second implementation example is WIDDA's NEAVE project, also funded by the Australian Government. NEAVE is a safety and prevention resource created by and for women and gender diverse people with disability. NEAVE responds to a common barrier: people need accessible information to recognise violence understand their rights, and seek support. It is Australia's first easy-read-first website with plain English, text-to-speech, larger text options, and a dedicated calm space to decompress after sensitive content. Changing the Landscape and NEEV show two sides of implementation. Practitioners need practical tools translating evidence into action. Women and gender-diverse people with disability need accessible accessible information that supports safety and decision-making. Accessible information is vital to prevention, but information alone cannot create safety if women and gender-diverse people with disability remain isolated from community life. Safety depends on connection. Some of the most important safeguards do not look like a formal service. They look like peer support, self-advocacy, and the everyday relationships and friendships that come from taking part in ordinary community life. These connections allow women with disability to build trust and be known beyond segregated settings. Social and community participation is an essential safeguard to prevent violence. Governments must fund more than accessible crisis responses. They must invest in the conditions that make violence easy to recognize and escape, including meaningful access to community life. The next phase of CRPD implementation requires gender-responsive leadership. Women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disability have named the problem. We have built the evidence. We have designed the solutions. We have shown what works. Governments must now act with us. Thank you. Okay, um, distinguished

delegates and colleagues, before inviting our next panelists, I would like to thank Dr. Piente Dose for your contribution and impressive presentations. Now it is my honor to present Ms. Marlee Leberteus, our next speaker. Marlee Leberteus is an expert on disability and sexual violence, committed to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. As an autistic woman and survivor of sexual violence, she brings an expertise grounded in both professional knowledge and lived experience. She is a co-founder and president of the FENCAWON, Association of Autistic Women. She works at national and international levels, including with the United Nations, to promote a human rights-based approach focuses on accessibility and addressing system violence. Ms. Labbatez, you have the floor for 10 minutes for your presentation. Thank you very much.

Ladies and gentlemen, Excellencies, dear colleagues, thank you for this invitation and for the opportunity to speak as part of this roundtable. As a member of civil society and an expert on disability and sexual violence, I am speaking to you in the context of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and in particular its Article 16. 20 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, one thing is is very obvious, and that is that violence remains at unacceptable levels. Persons with disabilities are exposed to levels of violence that are around twice as high as those faced by the rest of the population. Children with disabilities are as much as 5 times more exposed than other children. This violence does not represent isolated cases, but rather structural violations of human rights. I would like to begin by recalling one thing that is very clear: no human being should be exposed to a heightened risk of violence because of their disability alone. And yet that is the reality. I am among those women. I am an autistic woman and I am a survivor of sexual violence. Given this, we call upon states to strengthen their prevention and protection obligations in accordance with Article 16 of the Convention. That involves making violence prevention policies systematic in all public or private operations that interact with persons with disabilities. And I'm speaking today not only as a survivor and as the President of the Francophone Association of Women with Autism, but also as a person who is concerned by the public policies that we need to transform Studies indicate levels of as much as 88% of women with autism that have suffered sexual violence, and a significant share of those take place before the age of 14. In general terms, persons with a disability are more often isolated. They are more frequently placed in structural situations of dependence and imbalances in power, which increases their exposure to violence and abuse. What they say is believed less, listened to less, and sometimes even denied. And the aggressors target specifically those structural factors. But from a human rights point of view, it is not the vulnerability that produces the violence, but rather the absence of effective prevention in at-risk environments. In this context, we have a collective responsibility What we are seeing is not a series of situations, but rather systematic violence that results from the intersection of ableism, gender inequalities, and structural power imbalances. And I'm going to address 3 main pillars in what I have to say today: prevention, identification and testimony, and care for psychological trauma. Prevention is our first line of defense, but it can only be effective if it is conceived of with persons with disabilities and if it is accessible to everyone. It also needs to be integrated in every life environment. The prevention of violence is not a political option. It is a legally binding obligation under the Convention. In France, for example, we have created a tool called Règle Sport. This is a prevention tool that operates in the environment of sport, and it was created and conceived of by and for persons with disabilities and athletes in particular. And during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, this tool became an official tool. Because it was seen that it was something that was useful for everyone. We have other examples, for example, books that were created by the association Les Amis de Romy, which addresses the issues of rape and incest. These prevention tools are accessible in easy-to-read and easy-to-understand formats as audiobooks, in Braille, and in sign language. And at long last, they allow all children, regardless of their needs, to have access to essential information to allow them to recognize a dangerous situation and to know how to respond. In France, there is also online information for professionals, those in the social, medical, or judicial sectors. This has been developed by the Francophone Association of Women with Autism and the Traumatic Memory and Victimology Association. This is open-source information that has been recognized by the public authorities and that allows for a culture of prevention to be disseminated. There is also a new French education program on relationships, love life, and sexuality, which is also an important step forward in education on consent and self-determination. States need to guarantee the systematic integration of the prevention of violence in educational, sports, public health, and social policy, ensuring that they are universally accessible with dedicated funding and obligations for implementation in all of the sectors concerned. On the subject now of identification and testimony, prevention is not enough. We also need to find people, listen to them, and believe them. Identifying persons with disabilities that are victims of violence is broadly insufficient today. Institutional silence around the violence suffered by persons with disabilities in and of itself constitutes a factor of impunity, a driver of impunity. And for child victims, it is essential that we improve the collection of testimony in order to guarantee effective access to justice. Moreover, in order to strengthen the protection of children and to prevent sexual violence, The systematic criminal record checks for sexual crimes, sexual offenses, for all professionals or volunteers interacting with children must be made widespread, must be made the norm. In France, we have several initiatives that have been developed, including the On-Digineco program, which is an example of good field practice, which aims to strengthen the identification of violence and access to care for women with disabilities regardless of where they are living. There is also the Intimajia program, which is a local approach devoted to love life, private life, relationships, sex, pregnancy, and the prevention of sexual violence. It brings together professionals and those with expertise disabilities and develops guidance, support for persons in this situation, their families and loved ones, their assistants and professionals. And I would add one essential point, which is the development of augmentative and alternative communication, which today is an essential condition for effective access to the rights— to rights and to justice. Without communication, there can be no testimony, no speech, and without that there can be no justice. It is urgent that that be rolled out and systematically integrated throughout prevention, alarm-raising, and for persons who have communication difficulties, these tools are key. They allow for the prevention of violence and to allow them to say what they have to say. Under international law, states must make accessible tools mandatory that are co-built with persons with disabilities and which integrate alternative and augmentative communication tools. I'm now going to talk to you about psychological trauma. This is a blind spot in public policy. And particularly when it comes to care for psychological trauma. Violence, in particular sexual violence, have deep-rooted, long-lasting, and often invisible consequences for persons with disabilities. These consequences are all too often not recognized and often confused with disability. This can lead to misdiagnoses. It can make difficulties worse. It can lead to a loss of autonomy and/or a failure to provide care for that trauma. The lack of this constitutes a breakdown in rights, protection, recognition, reparation, and rehabilitation. I recommend that states guarantee effective, funded, and territorially balanced access to specialized psychological trauma care that is accessible and inclusive. To conclude, these realities are today exacerbated by the development of digital tools, social networks, and artificial intelligence, but also by armed conflicts and humanitarian crises. They are intersectional— intersecting, and they require a comprehensive response. Violence suffered by persons with disabilities is not an inevitability. It is the result of political choices and systems that are not yet sufficiently inclusive. Solutions exist, but their effectiveness depends on a paradigm shift to go from reactive protection to the effective implementation of human rights. Putting an end to this violence requires a step change, a genuine step change. I therefore call upon states to strengthen the effective implementation of the Convention In particular, it's Articles 16, 7, 12, and 25, which structure protection, autonomy, and access to fundamental rights to guarantee independent monitoring and control mechanisms, to ensure long-term funding for prevention and protection policies, and also to systematically and effectively include persons with disabilities in the elaboration of the public policies that concern them. Putting an end to this violence is not a political option. Rather, it is an obligation for all States under international human rights law. And that obligation is an immediate one. So let us refuse allowing the unacceptable to become the norm. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Ms. Labbateles, for your very excellent presentation. Distinguished delegates and colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I now invite our next panelist to take the floor, Ms. Amalia Cameo. Amalia Cameo is a human rights expert on disability with 40 years of lived experiences in the field of disability and human rights. She serves as a Vice Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during 2019 to 2022 term and was reelected for the second consecutive term from 2023 to 2026. She is very keen to promote deinstitutionalization and also participates in the working group on methods and communications. Now, Ms. Amelia Cameo, you have the floor for 10 minutes. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair, my dear friends. Hola. I will speak in Spanish.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has long been concerned about disability-based violence. The recommendations made to States Parties following their review contain numerous references to the multiple, intersectional, and systematic forms of violence against persons with disabilities. Ranging from hate speech, the withdrawal of mobility aids, physical assaults, and financial abuse, to sexual assault, forced medication and sterilization, and even mutilation and death. In both the complaints it has received and the investigations it has conducted, the Committee has emphasized that it is a essential to detect and prevent acts of violence, and that redress for persons with disabilities who have suffered such violence must include effective remedies, including compensation. To prevent and detect violence on the grounds of disability that is practiced systematically in many institutions, the Committee has elaborated published guidance, including on situations of emergencies in 2022. This complements Articles 19 and 14, and also General Comment No. 5 and the guidance— guidelines on 14. Despite these guidelines, the Committee noted that the normalization of violence persists, not only in institutions, but also in situations of displacement or migration, humanitarian emergencies, armed conflicts, schools, medical consultations, refugee centres, family and care settings, and online spaces. It varies in severity, sometimes amounting to torture under international standards. People with disabilities do not constitute a homogenous group. The violence they face is often exacerbated when disability intersects with other grounds of discrimination, such as age, citizenship, gender, sexual orientation, among others. When deinstitutionalization occurs without a prior process, as described in the Guidelines on Deinstitutionalization, people who have been in institutions may end up taking risky paths, such as substance abuse, living on the streets, choosing to migrate relocate or become victims of trafficking, thereby exposing themselves to a greater risk of disability-based violence. Against this backdrop, the Committee launched a survey on disability-based violence to gather information from people with disabilities about the types of violence that they have faced, who perpetrates it, where it occurs, whether they had access to reporting mechanisms, and whether these led to restorative justice. The survey asked about age, gender, ethnic origin, and type of disability. The responses described multiple forms of violence. We received 767 valid responses highlighting the enormous need for people with disabilities to bring visibility to the violence they face. This reaffirms the thesis put forward by the Committee, and which is one of the themes of this conference, and that is that violence and abuse against persons with disabilities has not decreased in, in the 20 years since the Convention was adopted. Among the respondents, there were 525 women, 208 men, 20 people who selected a different gender identity, and 15 who preferred not to specify their sex or gender identity. Respondents ranged from children under 10 years old, with 5 responses, children aged 11 to 20, 95 responses, adults aged 31 to 60, with 504 responses, and adults aged 60 to 80, with 164 responses. All types of violence overlapped. Perpetrators were predominantly family members, healthcare staff, caregivers, and schoolmates or co-workers. The survey testimonies were shocking. One example, just to give you an idea: a young woman with a physical disability who was sexually assaulted for years by her father's boss. When she told her parents, they asked her to keep quiet. For fear that her father would lose his job. There's no justice, and then when you make a complaint, you are then revictimized. Based on the survey and the Committee's jurisprudence, draft guidelines on disability-based violence were developed, and these will serve as a valuable tool. They will be published definitively in August, and we hope that they will be a tool for States Parties to to identify, prevent violence, and to implement restorative justice measures for victims and sanctions for perpetrators. Disability-based violence is neither inevitable nor irremediable. It is not justifiable under any circumstances, nor can it be accepted as part of inadequate forms of protection or care. It must not be normalized or left unaddressed. It must be reported and made public so that victims obtain redress and so that perpetrators are held accountable before the law. When a State or society refuses to act to prevent violence against persons with disabilities, fails to take it seriously, or does not hold perpetrators accountable, the State is implicitly permitting such acts to be committed. The State is becoming complicit. Based on the survey responses and the Committee's jurisprudence, we recommend, first, identify and combat all forms of disability-based violence and implement structural changes. Second, strictly comply with the obligations set forth in Articles 14 to 17, together with gender and age-sensitive policies. Policies in accordance with all the principles of the Convention and its general obligations in combination with the right to equality before the law, the right to justice, the right to live independently, as well as the guidelines on deinstitutionalization and the new guidelines on disability-based violence, while also ensuring consistency with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda and the recommendations of other treaty bodies. Adopt an intersectional approach that integrates legislative, administrative, social, and educational measures into the prevention and management of disability-based violence. Eliminate the exclusion and stigmatization of all persons with disabilities. Conduct ongoing monitoring to prevent disability-based violence, paying attention to the lack of credibility accorded to persons with disabilities and to the fact that authorities often choose to conceal such incidents and revictimize, redirect resources toward the prevention of disability-based violence, comply with the 2025 Amman-Berlin Declaration Declaration, which says strive to ensure that at least 15% of international cooperation programs implemented at the national level are dedicated to promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities and to the prevention of violence, and collect data and statistics on disability-based violence. And I will conclude by saying that the MeToo movement has mobilized people against gender-based violence around the world. That's fantastic. But why isn't there a similar sense of urgency when it comes to disability-based violence? Thank you very much for your attention.

Gracias. Thank you very much, Amalia Cameo, for your excellent and informative presentations. I'm now invite— inviting our fifth and final panelist, Mr. Agus Hassan Hidayat, to deliver his presentation. Agus Hassan Hidayat is mental health advocate, disability rights, social inclusion, and equality specialist from Indonesia, and a founding member of the Indonesia's Revolutions and Education for Social Inclusion, and also a member of Transforming Communities for Inclusion and the International Movement of Youth with Disabilities. Agus has led participatory policy critics, documented human rights violations in institutions and supported peer-led networks that empower persons with psychosocial disability to claim their rights. Now the floor is yours, Mr. Hidayat. You have 10 minutes presentation. Thank you.

Thank you very much, distinguished delegates. Committee members, fellow persons with disabilities, congratulations to successfully to be here in the U.S., in the UN building. I'm speaking today on behalf of REMISE, an organization of persons with psychosocial disabilities in Indonesia, focusing on youth and gender-diverse groups. And on behalf of millions of youth with psychosocial disabilities across the Global South, young people whose voices are not just ignored but systematically erased by laws, by doctors, by families who believe they are protecting us, and by a world that have never truly believed we can speak for ourself. I want to tell you a story, not a metaphor, not a case study from a report, or not from documents. When I was a teenager, I experienced my first episode of deep distress. I was confused and I was scared. Instead of someone sitting beside me and asking what I need, I was taken to institutions. Inside that place, my identity as a human being is stripped away. I was shamed, on the feet. It stripped of the simple dignity of being as a human being, as a whole. I was shamed. And today, thousands of us is still deprived their liberty and put in the institution forcibly, forcibly under the name of care. Rehabilitations and for their best interests. We are young. Youth with psychosocial disabilities occupy the very bottom of an already marginalized group. We are young, so our distress is dismissed as adolescents' trauma. We are young, so our refusal of treatment is read as immaturity rather than as an exercise of legal capacity. We are young, so our families are trusted over us, the doctor is trusted over us, and the institution is trusted over us. Remisi, my organization, has documented the situations of youth inside institutions in Indonesia. What we found is this: young people are placed without consent in the institutions. They are cut off from education, from peers, from futures. They are subjected to psych— uh, psychiatric restraint, to chemical sedations, to sexual violence that institutions do not investigate because institutions investigate themselves. And this is not a failed system. This is a system working as already designed. Within this already marginalized population, youth with psychosocial disability face compounding vulnerabilities that this agenda has failed to adequately confront. Consider what it means to be young and experiencing a mental health crisis. We do not yet have the legal standing to refuse treatment in most jurisdictions. Our parents or our guardians hold the power, and they are often the ones who bring us to the institution in the first place because they are frightened, because they were told this is what the care looks like, because no community-based alternative was over to us. We do not yet have the economic independence to leave home. We have nowhere to go. We have no language yet for what is being done to you or to us, because the only language available is the clinical and psychiatric language. As we are young, so when our distress, as turning adults call as a trauma, when we resist, they call it non-compliance. We carry, we cry. They call us attention-seeking. When we are silent, they call it progress. Youth with disabilities' inner life is permanently translated into someone else's clinical narrative, and we have no right of replay. Yet, Young people, adolescents, young adults are placed in psychiatric facilities, social welfare institutions, and faith-based rehabilitation centers, often without their consent and often at the directions of of their own families. Inside these institutions, they are cut off from education. They are separated from peers. Their legal capacity is stripped. Their futures are decided for them. Deinstitutionalization for youth must mean investing in community-based psychosocial support from early age, peer support, inclusive education, and meaningful participation in decisions about our own lives. Violence hidden inside mental health. Let me say something plainly that this room has been too polite to say clearly. Mental health law is one of the primary instruments of violence against persons with psychosocial disabilities across the world, including Indonesia. Mental health regulation authorized involuntary hospitalizations, forced medications, indefinite detention, and the transfer of legal decision-making to guardians and to the clinicians. Mental capacity assessment frame, as neutral, clinical, and protective, are deployed to determine that youth with psychosocial disability lacks the capacity to make decisions about our own treatment our own housing, and our own future. This guardianship, as we see as a violence, it is authorized by many laws. For youth, the danger is compounded. Our legal capacity is denied twice. It's just because we have mental disability status and we are not that wise as a youth. The result is young persons with no recognized voice. No protected self existing entirely at the discretion of others. Our knowledge and the validity of our experience— there is no more mechanism. We must name the most invisible and the most dangerous: the institution controls who counts as credible witness. To its own violence. I will say something that is maybe not popular. As youth with psychosocial disability, we do not need the care We need support. I want to challenge a word that will be used many times in these issues. It is care. We hear it constantly: better care, rights-based care, quality care. But care positions use us as passive receivers. It contracts a relationship where the provider is always the authority and always the experts, always the one who decides what is needed for best interest. Care Extended ident— it definitely in how paternalism perpetuates itself by never allowing us to graduate into full personhood. We call on state parties urgently and without ambiguity, first, Repeal all provisions in mental health legislations that authorize forced treatment, involuntary detention, and substitute decision-making. These do not protect us. They expose us to violence while immunizing the perpetrators. Second, abolish guardianship frameworks that Strip legal capacity from persons with psychosocial disability. Replace them immediately with supported decision-making system that recognize our full personhood. Third, establish independent survivor-led oversight bodies with real investigative authority inside every institution where young people with psychosocial psychosocial disabilities are helped. Fourth, fund genuine community-based psychosocial support that is designed with young people to build peer support and not compliance. And last one, center youth with psychosocial disabilities from the Global South as leaders, not consultees. Not case studies in every policy process that concerns us. I want to speak directly not only to delegates in these rooms but to the young person who is not here, for everyone who was still in chains as I was before. And I want to tell I told everyone, this is not care. We are not wrong. Our distress is real. The harm that, that done to us under the name of care was real, and it's never been our fault. And to every person who did not survive who was swallowed by a system that calls itself healing. We say your name, we carry your demand. You are why I am here to bring this issue. Lastly, 20 years after the convention was adopted, we are not asking for small improvements. We are asking for transformations of laws, of systems, of the ideology that makes laws and systems feel acceptable to everyone, and recognize once for all that we are not problems to be solved. We are people. We have always been people as human, and we will not stop until every person with psychosocial disability can live their life with freedom, dignity, and the absolute rights to lead it themselves. Thank you very much.

Bravo! Bravo! Distinguished delegates and friends, I have nothing to say, just thank you, Mr. Haidar Yazd, for your very excellent and touching presentations alongside with your lived experiences. Dear delegates, civil society friends, colleagues, I will now hand over the co-chairship back to Miss Ivona Lula, who will continue to moderate our meeting today. Over to you, Miss Ivona Lula, to chair our co-chairship.

Thank you so much, Sawalak, for your excellent co-chairmanship, and thank you to all our panelists for your contributions. We will now move to the interactive discussion the second segment of this roundtable. Participants wishing to speak are now invited to request the floor using the microphone button at their desk. Government delegations, accredited NGOs, UN entities, as well as national human rights institutions may all inscribe to speak. In accordance with the decision of the Bureau, we will first hear from 3 member states, followed by 1 NGO, 1 UN entity, and one national human rights institution as applicable. Speakers will be called in the order in which they inscribe. When taking the floor, we encourage you to pose questions to the panelists or share brief comments relevant to today's discussion rather than delivering pre-prepared statements. All interventions are limited to 2 minutes, and I kindly ask everyone to respect this time limit so that we can hear from as many participants as possible within the very limited time that we have available for this discussion. We will be applying these time limits very strictly and microphones will be cut after 2 minutes, so I am counting on the cooperation and understanding of everyone in the room. The floor is now open for inscriptions and I recognize the delegation of France who will be our first speaker in the interactive segment to be followed by South Africa and Sweden. We will now hear from France. Madame la Ministre, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madame Chair, ladies and gentlemen. Article 16 of the Convention states that states parties need to take all measures to protect persons with disabilities at home and outside from all forms of abuse, including sexual abuse. Nonetheless, violence in all its forms still strikes people with disabilities in proportions that are unacceptable. Women and children are the primary victims of this. Women who are disabled are more affected than other women than by physical violence at home or outside their homes. They are twice as many as other women, twice as likely to be subject to sexual violence, and there is the double penalty of violence and also not being heard, not being seen. So from France has made a choice not to look away. We adopted a plan of action on people's personal private sexual lives for persons with disabilities drafted by those affected, assisting victims, uh, and perpetrators with disabilities, because by dealing with both groups, we address the nub of the issue. We have started this national work and we have a national body to assist those with disabilities. No public policy is worth more than the words of those who've been subject to this violence and that is why Maria Battel is here with us and we are not just talking in the role of victims, but on behalf of them, but let us make sure that they are speaking for themselves. Let us make that a reality.

I thank France. South Africa to take the floor. Excellency, over to you.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, the violence, exploitation, and abuse of persons with disabilities stands among the most devastating human rights violations of our time. Time. South Africa is tackling the structural conditions that continue to expose persons with disabilities to harm in our homes, our institutions, and our communities. South Africa's National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide, adopted in 2020, is our society-wide response program. For us, disability-inclusive implementation of the National Strategic Plan is a non-negotiable a pillar of our domestic response. In 2024, our Human Science Research Council study found that the prevalence of gender-based violence was twice as high for women with disabilities as for women without, that is at 14.6% against 7.2%. In response, our criminal justice system is implementing several practical measures to remove the barriers to justice. Processes. For instance, our courts are standardizing how they interact with hearing-impaired victims or survivors through sign language, which is an official language, and communication accommodations. In order to prevent secondary victimization, the use of intermediaries previously reserved for children has been legally extended to adults with physical, psychological, or intellectual disabilities. Our justice system is also accelerating changes to the built environment to ensure that victims can physically enter our courts to seek justice at all times. Finally, we are currently developing a disability bill to consolidate, harmonize, and strengthen the protective architecture with disability organizations participating at every level of consultation. I thank you very much.

I thank South Africa, and now I invite Sweden to speak, after which we will hear from an NGO representative. Sweden, over to you.

Thank you. My name is Carolina Ekström. I'm representing the civil society as part of the Swedish delegation, and I also serve as vice president of the Swedish National Association of the deaf. I would like to draw attention to the situation of deaf children who grow up in context of violence. Research indicates that deaf children are at heightened risk of experiencing violence, while at the same time facing significant barriers to disclose abuse, accessing protection services, and receiving appropriate trauma support. A key challenge is the lack of access to sign language, accessible information, and tailored support services. As a consequence, deaf children are often denied their right to protection, safety, recovery, and rehabilitation on an equal basis with others. This must be— they must be able to access their rights in their own language. Sign language. This is a structural issue that raises serious concern regarding the implementation both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the CRPD. When children are placed in shelters, protective accommodation, or foster care settings where sign language is not available or where professionals lack knowledge of deaf children's linguistic and cultural needs, Protection measures may unintentionally result in further isolation and deepen the impact of the violence that they have experienced. The right to sign language is not mere an accommodation, it's a foundation necessity for children to exercise their right to be heard, to participate in decision affecting their lives and to access effective protection. Therefore, I call on all member states to ensure that children's protection systems are fully accessible in sign language and that deaf children have access to trauma-informed support provided by professionals with competence in the lived realities, language, and culture of deaf people. The right to language is also a protective factor against violence. Thank you.

I thank Sweden, and now I invite a non-governmental organization who will be speaking from the NGO seat. Please identify yourself and the organization you are representing Guyana will be next. Over to you, NGO.

Thank you. I am Krista Carr, CEO of Inclusion Canada. In my country, the worst abuse does not always hide in the shadows. Sometimes it wears a suit and calls itself policy. Start with the gravest. In Canada, if you are in despair and you do not have a disability, the state It fights to keep you alive. If you have a disability, it now offers to help you die. Same pain, two answers. More than one person with a disability dies by the second one every day. The UN Committee called this law ableist and told Canada to repeal it. A right to die that only people with disabilities qualifies for is not a right. It's a verdict on our worth. So families are going to court. The Quebec Intellectual Disability Society are suing over segregated programs where adults with an intellectual disability work for years for almost nothing. This spring in the Yukon, families want an apology for restraining children with disabilities and locking them in seclusion rooms at school. And Inclusion Canada is challenging the assisted dying law on the basis of disability as a violation of equality. There are plainer words for this. Underpaying a person because of their disability is exploitation. Holding a frightened child down and locking them away at school is abuse. We are done using softer tones. Let this 20th anniversary be remembered for the cases we bring, the harms we name, and the people we refuse to leave behind. Thank you.

I thank Inclusion Canada, and now I invite Guyana to take the floor. Over to you.

Thank you, Chair. Guyana thanks the panellists for their contributions and welcomes these discussions on creating a world free from exploitation, violence, and abuse for all persons Persons with disabilities. Guyana's Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. We have made advances in our legislative, institutional, and support measures to prevent and respond to exploitation, violence, and abuse against persons with disabilities. Our Combatting of Trafficking in Persons Act strengthens protections for persons with disabilities by recognizing disability within the context of vulnerability. It imposes stringent penalties for offenders and provides victim assistance and training that is responsive to the specific needs of victims, including persons with disabilities. Guyana's Family Violence Act strengthened legal safeguards, including for persons with disabilities. The Act ensures that abuse occurring occurring within care or support arrangement is addressed and that persons with disabilities are afforded appropriate protection. These protections are complemented by responsive services including shelters, psychosocial support, and case management referrals. A hotline service facilitates reporting of all forms of violence and abuse and connects survivors to essential support services. Access to justice is also advanced through legal aid support, court accessibility measures, online participation, e-litigation, and a family court and a mental health court. Guyana will continue its efforts to strengthen these mechanisms and public awareness while fostering close collaboration with persons with disabilities the representative organizations, and partners to advance protection—

I thank Guyana for their intervention. Before we move to the next speakers, who will be Georgia, Malta, and an NGO, I wanted to take a minute to thank our interpreters and conference services for agreeing to stay with us for 10 more minutes. Thank you so much. And now over to Georgia.

Thank you, Madam Chair, Excellencies. Violence, exploitation, and abuse against persons with disabilities cannot be effectively tackled without addressing the underlying grounds of discrimination. The recent National Report on the Realization of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of Persons with Disabilities in Georgia documents significant progress in this regard. Regarding access to justice and criminal accountability, disability. In 2025, the prosecution service implemented disability-inclusive standards in over 73% of relevant cases, with witness coordinators supporting 83 persons with disabilities throughout legal proceedings. Criminal charges were brought against 96 individuals for crimes committed against persons with disabilities, and 110 individuals were formally recognized as victims, 51 of of whom were women. Now regarding women and girls with disabilities, during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, the Prosecution Service conducted 36 events nationwide. These initiatives included targeted outreach to ethnic minority communities focused on the rights of women and girls with disabilities and featured with distribution of informational materials in Georgian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani. Now prevention regarding training data and inter-institutional coordination. In 2025, more than 2,500 personnel across the police, justice, and emergency sectors received specialized training on disability rights. Additionally, the Prosecution Service conducted training dedicated to identifying discrimination-based hate motivations in crimes against persons with disabilities. Georgia has also established a unified hate crime statistics which features publicly available data disaggregated by disability status. Georgia remains firmly committed to ensuring the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities as a central pillar in eliminating all forms of discrimination. I thank you.

I thank Georgia and now invite Malta to take the floor. Next will be an NGO representative who will be our last speaker in this interactive segment. Malta, over to you.

Malta welcomes the Bureau's decision to address this important sub-theme at this year's Conference of State Parties. In today's increasingly charged international context, we must be mindful that shifts in discourse can risk the victimization or revictimization of persons with disabilities, undoing important gains achieved under the CRPD over the past two decades. Malta remains firmly committed to implementing Article 16 of the Convention, both domestically and through cooperation with international and regional stakeholders. In recent years, Malta has strengthened its legal framework in this area. In 2021, we extended hate crime and hate speech protections to persons with disabilities. In 2024, we introduced revised Article 251F of the Criminal Code, which comprehensively prohibits forced sterilization and ENQES consent criteria in the CRPD and General Comment Number 1. This year Malta adopted Act 14 of 2026 on the safeguarding of adults in situations of vulnerability, strengthening protection mechanisms against abuse and neglect. Importantly, the will and preferences of the person remain central in line with Article 12 of the CRPD and Malta's Personal Autonomy Act. We also recognize that protection is only meaningful where communication is accessible. Bill. Demand for multi-sign language interpretation continues to grow, and gaps in emergency provision can still create barriers for deaf persons, particularly when reporting abuse. We therefore stress the importance of timely and effective communication support to ensure equal access to justice and protection. Malta also continues to strengthen its community-based safeguards. We remain fully committed to eliminating all forms of exploitation, violence, and abuse against persons with disabilities in line with the CRPD. Thank you.

I thank Malta and I now invite an NGO representative speaking again from the NGO seats. Please identify yourself.

Thank you. Thank you. I speak from the Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry. I wish to thank Mr. Hidayat especially for his very powerful intervention in this panel. I have only a few points to add. Psychiatric medications and electroshock have been recognized as forms of torture or other ill treatment for decades in international law, yet they still continue to be used routinely throughout the world against persons with psychosocial disabilities. Similarly, psychiatric involuntary hospitalization has always been condemned if it is done to people who are theoretically considered non-disabled, but remains a form of arbitrary detention contrary to the CRPD and is itself also a form of torture. Survivors— there can be no exceptions to the prohibitions that Mr. Hidayat called for in— sorry, under domestic law as needed to prevent these abuses from happening. And lastly, survivors are owed systemic, collective, and individual reparations to create the conditions for transformative justice and personal healing, as called for also under the CRPD guidelines on deinstitutionalization. Thank you.

Thank you, and I would like to thank all participants for your questions and comments in this interactive segment. I also apologize to all who have asked for the floor but could not be accommodated given the time constraints. I would now like to invite our panelists to respond to your questions. Given that we are running We are running out of time. I kindly ask each panelist to limit their remarks to approximately 1.5 minutes if you could. Let us begin with Dr. Al Saif. You have the floor.

What did she— Oh, you get to speak to reply to the questions. Excuse me? What did she— okay, thank you. Thank you so much. With regards to combating violence against persons with disability, In my statement, I refer to a very important point, which is preventive justice. We must develop policies and legislation preemptively in order to reduce violence against persons with disability through legislation. That works on preventing violence before it occurs, especially when referring to institutionalization. And the same applies to persons with mental disabilities. Therefore, the important point, as I mentioned in my presentation, was preventive— the concept of preventive and therefore we must take administrative procedures too in order to prevent violence before it occurs and to enhance efforts within the closed environments in which persons with disabilities exist in order to prevent the violence that we see spreading now. Thank you.

Thank you. And I now give the floor to Dr. Piantadosi. Over to you.

Thank you. I would like to just repeat something that will stay with me from this conference: a right to die that only people with disabilities qualify for is not a right. And to thank Inclusion Canada for the words spoken today and also the very moving intervention that was delivered by Moira at the Civil Society Forum on Monday. If you haven't heard it, I really encourage you to. I can hear in the words of my fellow panellists and the other interventions spoken today how important genuine partnerships are with disabled people. There are state parties who are doing this in various ways. I'd like to invite everyone here to stay in the room after this session is complete. There's a side event being hosted by the Australian Government in partnership with People with Disabilities Australia and Women with Disabilities Australia, where we're talking about some of our approaches to inclusive codesign, where we can look at genuine partnerships is enough time to make sure that we are designing systems and policies from the outset that work for disabled people and lead to better outcomes. Thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Piantadosi. And now over to you, Mrs. Rabatel.

I just wanted to add something. Orphan violence is something that we don't want to see, we don't want to think about, we don't want to look at, but the more we hide violence, the more we think it doesn't exist, well, the more we increase the risk of inflicting violence on all people, be they persons with disabilities or not. And there's something important to take into consideration, this psychological trauma issue. When we are victims of rape, there are implications throughout one's whole life. And if we don't think about those consequences, that's very serious. And Sometimes there might be an added disability and people get increasingly dependent on somebody because of the very destructive impact of the initial violence. We mustn't forget that.

Thank you. I now give the floor to Mrs. Amalia Gamio. Over to you.

Gracias. Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to say that, yeah, it's right that there are a great many efforts that we've heard here from many countries, but regrettably, violence continues to exist in very many and very terrible forms. And I think that recognizing that is the first step to solving it. As I said, if so many people responded to this survey, it's because they remain invisible and even worse than that, when they do complain, they are re-victimized because that violence is becoming structural, and there really is not a place that those people can go to make a complaint and to be listened to. I also wanted to refer to Canada because the, the committee did make strong recommendations regarding cases of euthanasia, but the problem is that persons with disabilities are being confused with people who are ill, or there are references to, quote unquote, they are suffering because of their disability. So the number of cases of euthanasia remains terribly high. And I also wanted to say that institutionalization is a terrible form of violence. We may have lots of solutions and how excellent that is that we're trying to do things, but we need to look at what is missing in order to raise the visibility of this violence and to solve it. Thank you.

And last but not least, we will hear from Mr. Hidayah. Over to you.

Thank you so much. I would like to give feedback and offering a message of both urgency and hope as my journey reminds me that change is possible. And thank you for the comment from Tina. And I also reminds me that no one should have to survive violence from violence, coercion, exclusions, or institutionalizations in order to have their humanity recognized. Nearly 20 years after the CRPD, we have made important progress. The Convention has transformed how the world understands disability, dignity, and human rights. But yet, for many persons with psychosocial disabilities, especially in the Global South, the promise of the CRPD remains unfinished. Too many people continue to experience discrimination, deprivation of liberty, and denial of legal capacity, and exclusions from their communities. I would like to end my statement with encouraging everyone in this room and everyone who is watching, let us Build systems that respect autonomy rather than control. Let us invest in support rather than coercion. Let us create communities where persons with disabilities are not feared, managed, or spoken for, but respected as equal members of society and leaders in their own lives. And let us work together to make the promise inclusion is reality, not for some of us, not for some countries, but for all persons with disabilities everywhere. Thank you very much.

Thank you, and I would like to thank all our panelists around the table here for their valuable reflections. I will now hand the floor again to my co-chair to deliver very short concluding remarks on our behalf. Thank you so much.

Thank you, co-chair. On behalf of co-chair and panelists, I would like to thank everyone, but I would like to conclude with this statement. After the, the adoptions of the conventions, many persons with disability continue to face exploitation, violence, and abuse in their homes, community institutions, and online environments. Women and girls with disability face disproportionate rates gender-based violence, forced contraception, exploitation, and denial of reproductive autonomy. Particularly in institutional settings, persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities are always denied legal capacity and other practices undermine their dignity and autonomy. These violences are not isolated incidents, but they are rooted in discrimination, unequal unequal power relations, institutionalization, and the continuing perception of persons with disabilities as objects of care rather than rights holders. So the Convention requires more than legal protections. It must be supported by adequate budget allocation, reliable data, disaggregated and accessible services, including sign language interpreters, reasonable accommodation, individual rights support effective access to justice and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities. So today we have an opportunity to move beyond commitments and focus on practical solutions. Our discussion has highlighted many concrete actions to strengthen protection systems and support survivors. Let's work together to achieve this, you know, milestone and allow persons with disability can live free from violence, exercise their legal capacity, make their own decisions, and enjoy dignity, autonomy, and equality on an equal basis with others. Thank you very much for your patience. Thank you, the floor.

Thank you, panelists. Thank you, co-chair. Thank you. Oh my God.