853rd Meeting, 35th Session, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

Good morning, Buenos dias, distinguished members of the delegation of Chile, member of the Committee, representative of the organization of persons with disabilities, and colleagues or participants, I now call the 805th meeting of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committee will continue its consideration of the periodic report of Chile under agenda item 5, consideration of reports submitted by a State party under article 35 of the Convention. This morning, we will continue the second part of the consultative dialogue that began yesterday afternoon. We will first complete the remaining questions and answers under cluster 2. A 30-minute follow round on cluster two will follow this. After the break, we will proceed to cluster three. I kindly ask all speakers to respect the time allocated to them. I will manage the time with the support of secretariat. We will now continue the discussion under cluster two. which began yesterday afternoon. I first give the floor to Ms. Amalia Gameo. Ms. Amalia Gameo, you have the floor.

Amalia Gameo. Thank you, Madam Chair. Welcome back to the delegation from the Republic of Chile. I'd like to thank you for the answers provided thus far. I'd also like to welcome civil society organizations. I have the following question. It's about systematic investigations and retrospective investigations in order to determine the number of women which were subjected to sterilization without their consent. I'd also like to know about the punishments handed down and reparations and guarantees of non-repetition. The other thing that I'm worried about is that we've received information that according to which the Bini del Mar Juanita school hands out contraceptives to students without their consent.

Excellency, you have the floor.

Yes, yes.

Long-term contraceptives. Sorry, I'll answer you in Spanish. Senadis will start the answers. Very good morning. This is Senadis. With regard to sterilizations, In the National Disability Service, we refer back to the legal framework which was quoted yesterday, that is Act 21331 concerning policies and figures.

I'd just like to interrupt you if I may, Amalia Gamio.

When you, no, no, Ms. Amalia Gamio, when you speak, would you send signal to me? Thank you so much. What is your request? Yes, Mr. Amalia Gamio, you have the floor.

Amalia Gamio, what I was saying was that we're Well aware of what you said yesterday about the legal framework which prohibits sterilisation without consent. But my specific question concerns the investigations that you have made into the past in order to determine how many women were sterilised without their consent. Before the ban, and I'd like to know if you. punished those who were responsible, did you provide reparations and compensation to the victims and guarantees of non-repetition? What ones are in place currently?

Yes, I apologize to disturb your reply, but maybe I think Ms. Amalia Camilo met the delegation understand exactly what she want to listening. So yeah, go ahead. Thank you so much, Excellency.

Head of delegation, I'd just like to add that it's very important for us to give you the legal background so that we can then develop our answer. Public Prosecution Service is going to start the answer and will be backed up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prosecution Service, good morning. Can you hear me?

What we can tell you is that when it comes to the sterilization of women adolescents with disabilities, we don't have any figures on this because Non-consensual sterilization is not a standalone offense in Chile. We have other offenses such as castration, lesions, torture, unlawful coercion, but we don't have a breakdown on sterilizations in our computer systems. So that's why we can't record the figures. What I would like to tell the committee is that Act 21675, which has been referred to, includes a reference to gynaecological and obstetric violence. It's important you know that. And that is considered to be a form of institutional violence against women in a health setting. When it comes to the figures, passed on to us by the Ministry of Health on sterilizations. We have used that in order to provide training to judges and prosecutors through the Judicial Academy. But this is a preventive measure, so we don't have our own figures and cases that we're dealing with, but we are getting ready for this investigative challenge and so the prosecutors who will conduct the investigations will get support from the specialised human rights and gender units in order to ensure that due diligence is respected. Thank you.

Amalia Gamio, thank you very much. It would be highly recommendable that you investigate exactly how many women were sterilized without their consent, because you must consider restorative justice for them, because there are a lot of women who were involved. I'd like to know if you've got information about what I was asking you about, about the Juanita Aguirre school in Vina del Mar. We were told that they were distributing long-term contraceptives to girls in the school.

Because there is still response from the delegation about your first question. So I would like to give the floor to the delegation to reply they prepared for your first question. Excellency, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and we've taken note of the case raised by the committee member on the Juanita Aguirre school, but we'd like to make two very brief comments. Chile has independent mechanisms for dealing with such cases. So that's the independent judiciary. And we also recognize the competence of United Nations human rights bodies and the Inter-American Human Rights Commission and court. So with that in mind, I would respectfully like to point out that this process will not deal with individual cases because there are the petition systems that I've mentioned but we will look at the public policies and the integrity of the system now so that we don't deal with individual cases obviously we do believe that we will be able to fully comply with the convention through our public policies and institutions thank you.

Thank you so much. And Excellency, Ms. Amalia Gamio gave the second questions. Ms. Amalia Gamio, would you repeat your second questions?

Gracias.

Amalia Gamio, thank you very much. I'd just like to clarify that in this committee, we do deal with individual cases because They give valuable examples of what we want to talk about, so it's a very valuable way of proceeding. With regard to Article 18, I'd like to say that we're very concerned about migrants with disabilities because they face a number of barriers. There's a lot of red tape before they're given the documents they need. Obviously there are language barriers and there's low coverage of their needs. So I'd like to know what is the State Party doing to support migrants, including women and children with disabilities, so that they will receive health and education support and support for employment, if possible, during their stay in Chile. Thank you very much.

Head of Delegation, The Ministry of Justice will provide the answer. Ministry of Justice.

Thank you very much, Minister. Taking a general look at the registration system in Chile, we have the civil registration system. We have 485 desks, 16 directorate generals and large number of offices and they take action in hospitals. So this is through the relevant law. So we believe that we can bring down barriers in the system. And this means that all people can have access to the benefits foreseen in the law. CONADIS also has the explicit support of the foreign service, the alien service, which is responsible for dealing with persons of different nationalities.

Ms. Amalia Camio, you have the floor.

Amalia Gamio, thank you very much for the answer, Madam Chair. This brings me to the end of the part that I'm dealing with. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Now I give the floor to Mr. Majno Kofron. Mr. Majno will raise his question concerning Article 19 and 20 of the Convention. Mr. Magino Corporan, you have the floor.

Very good morning. This is Magino Corporan Lorenzo. I would like to once again greet the delegation from Chile. With regard to the subject of independent living, which I would like to say is a really crucial one within the Convention, I'd like to know if you have already drawn up a programme based on the Committee's guidelines for the transition to independent living, which means the transition from institutionalisation to an independent life. So that's the first question I have. I'd like to know how much you are or will be investing in this programme. So those are the first questions I have for you.

Head of.

Delegation, the National Disability Service will answer the question and further responses will be provided by the Ministry of Labour. National Disability Service.

Very good morning to you. With regard to the first question, the National Disability Service provides broad ranging programmes in order to promote the right to independent living. Please give me a moment because I'm trying to find the figures on my computer screen, says the speaker. So the range of programs includes above all support students with disabilities stuttering in higher education. This is because we believe that If we support these students and ensure their effective inclusion at all stages of education, then this is going to be absolutely vital for ensuring their right to independent living. With regard to a breakdown on figures, in 2016 there were 634 students supported with a budget of 1.3 billion Chilean pesos approximately. At the same time, the National Disability Service also provides funding for assistive devices which are considered essential for persons with disabilities to live independently, to improve their functionality and enhance their personal autonomy. In 2025, 7,530 or so people benefited with a budget of over 4 billion Chilean pesos. And this is going to increase to around 6 billion pesos. We also have the National Fund for Inclusive Projects, known by the acronym FUNAPI. This is an initiative from the National Disability Service, which enables us to fulfill the principle of participation social dialogue. Through this initiative, we provide funding for promoting independent living as well. And these budget lines from 2024 onwards have been considered for persons with disabilities and their organizations. In 2025, we funded 117 projects with a budget of 1.69 billion Chilean pesos approximately, and in 2026, we have a similar budget. And this programme is awaiting adjudication currently of the tendering process. The National Disability Service currently has a programme called Transition to Independent Living. This was raised in 2020, uh, the, in prior questions and it benefits people who are amongst the 70% most vulnerable people, according to the household survey, they find it difficult to transit to independent living, so they need services and care. And I would like to inform you that in our legal framework, support is understood as intermediation actions, support and care, which is financed through the program, requires that the service providers are registered in the National Disability Register. So that register contains not only names of persons with disabilities but also the names of service and support providers. We funded certain support services such as assistance or care for over 2,600 people with a budget of over 2 billion Chilean pesos. Thank you very much. The Ministry of Labour will add further answers.

Ministry of Labour. I'm Tomas Raul Bind, I'm the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of Chile. I'd like to add to what the National Disability Service is saying by referring to a condition for independent living with support. People can be formally recognized as being eligible. So we formally certify the labor skills of these people. We have also given priority to carers and primary carers, so they do not need to go through traditional training. This is based on prior experience and there is institutional support for work which was hidden traditionally and was undertaken informally above all by women. In 2025 of the 5800 certificates of Chile values, there were over 1000 carers. And in 2026, we believe the number will be 1835 carers certified. So over 3900 carers have been certified. And this is a policy which is nationwide.

Mr. Majinot, this segment is until 10:30. So I would like to kindly ask you give your question, all of your question, give all together. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I'd like to follow up on my previous question now. Could you provide me with more information? Does this plan have have a philosophy of labour inclusion or inclusion in the job market. If that is the philosophy behind the plan, can you give us some results, some figures? May I please continue? With regard to the pilot project Aconcagua for independent living, which is mentioned in paragraph 126 of your national report. Could you give us some indicators, some results of that programme? And I would also like to know if it can be rolled out to other regions. With regard now to persons with disabilities, including children, who have been deinstitutionalised through the transition to independent living process, which you refer to in paragraph 123 of your report, this is in accordance with our 2022 guidelines. So I'd like to know how many people have been granted a personal assistant through this process. I'd like to know what measures have been undertaken to draft a protocol on informed consent which can bring an end to the deprivation of liberty of children, adolescents, adults and older persons with disabilities in state institutions. I'd like to know what is the state's view about the implementation of universal access to housing for independent living? With regard to family houses now, I'd like to know how are you going to close the social gap of access to family housing through support from the Ministry of Housing? Could you tell me how many centres are outside the management of the government and how many of these centres, how many people are in these centres and how are you going to regulate them? I'd also like to know When is the state party going to adopt a holistic strategy on deinstitutionalisation and for independent living? When are you going to have a strategy with a time frame, targets and figures? And how are you going to prevent further institutionalisation? I'd like to know how many people have moved out of institutions and into the community and What kind of assistance is in place for support for independent living in the community? And can people choose where they live and with whom they live? So all these questions are about Article 19 on independent living. And I'd like to move on to Article 20. Personal mobility. What specific measures, timeframes and budgets are going to be adopted by the state in order to ensure that there is personal mobility? This can be done through affordable and accessible public transport, which is reliable and which covers intermunicipal and rural routes. I'd like to know what specific measures are you taking in order to ensure that there is accessible audio information? And do you train your transport workers? What results have you achieved in this area? Also on Article 20, I'd like to underscore the following. we're well aware of the distances across Chile because this is something which is a risk for persons with disabilities and their mobility. So how do you respond to that? I'd now like to move on to Article 21. Now at the outset, I should have said that the speaker is interrupted.

Yes.

Inma Porrero, I'd once again like to thank the delegation for the information being provided by the delegation so that we can get a better idea of the efforts being undertaken to implement the Convention. With regard to Article 21, we appreciate the efforts. The speaker has been interrupted.

We will have a follow-up question after the reply. and for Mr. Majinod, 19 and 20. And then we will have a follow-up questions during certain minute. And then we will go to the cluster three. Would you give the question at that cluster three?

Sorry, I thought you were passing me the floor for 21. That's what I got the floor, but I have no problem to wait. I fully understand.

Thank you.

I'm just staying. Sorry for the confusion. Thank you so much. So I would like to give the floor to the delegations to reply Mr. Mazin's questions, 19 and 20. But unfortunately, just you have five minutes. Yeah, five minutes.

Senadis will provide a brief answer.

Thank you very much. First of all, as regards a strategy for a transition to independent living, this does have a labor or employment component. We recognize that this that the life path of persons with disabilities must include equal rights throughout their life. And this means that as a state we have to provide care early on in someone's life, ensure equality in education and certainly later on equality for access to the labour market. These are general principles recognised in our legal setup. So, the programs I mentioned earlier have as a goal ensuring the full inclusion into the labor market for persons with disabilities. And this is something we will continue to develop. When it comes to housing, the Ministry for Housing and Urban Planning in Chile has additional budgetary allocations to provide for persons with disabilities and to ensure accessibility. We have a supreme decree number 52 which has specific headings on this part of the population and it includes accessibility conditions and meets the needs of this part of the population. We have a Supreme Decree 49, which includes additional benefits for persons with disabilities. And this is for accommodation projects for housing. And we also look at cases of reduced mobility. So there's a comprehensive, uh, housing benefit, uh, service, a rural, uh, and a town planning program. And we can, of course, provide further information in writing, given we don't have much time now. Now, a few brief words on transport. I wanted to say that in Chile, we have systematically worked across different sectors to make sure there is universal accessibility in public transport. And this is, of course, in conjunction with the Ministry of Transport and Communication, and we've worked with other public authorities as well. We have updated Supreme Decree 142, which lays down accessibility conditions in public transport. And we're working on this in an intersectoral technical roundtable at the moment. And there are proposed amendments to really drill down on concepts such as low floor access ramps, et cetera. and we have to consider physical, sensory and cognitive accessibility more broadly as well. Thank you.

Mr Mancino, do you satisfy about the delegation's reply to you?

Well, I'm not quite satisfied, but I know that we are working under real time pressure here, so I would be very grateful if you could provide written answers to the issues that you have not yet addressed orally. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr Majid Nour. Your Excellency, you have the answer.

We will provide details on the budget, the beneficiaries and the other details that you requested. We will provide all of that in writing. Thank you.

Thank you so much. I would like to kindly suggestion again to any question that cannot be fully addressed orally right now, maybe answered through additional written information to the Mr. Magino. Thank you so much. This concludes the main round of task force question under cluster two. We will now proceed the 30 minutes follow up round on cluster two. I would like to give the floor to member who are not the part of the task force and wish to raise a follow question concerning cluster two. Mr. Marco Shepherd, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. Welcome to the delegation rather late in the day, but still. It is not so much a question that I have, but a comment on yesterday's discussion on Article 12, equal recognition under the law. The Ministry of Justice explained to us that the law, the Chilean Civil Code of 1855 is based on the Code Napoleon, like most civil law countries law of personhood is, and that under that system, under that logic, the substitute decision making by guardians is a means to protect persons with disabilities. Now, this is where the CRPD Convention comes in and is in fundamental contrast to this logic that is based on the Code Napoleon. The CRPD Convention does not, and it is consistent throughout, does not protect persons with disabilities by infringing on their rights, by reducing their rights. What it does is it protects persons with disabilities by supporting them in the exercise of their rights. And this is also true with respect of the right to equal recognition before the law. What it requires is therefore supported decision making, a support system that helps a person with disabilities to take the decisions that she or he wants, and to exercise the rights themselves. And I got the impression yesterday, and this impression is not confined to a delegation of Chile. I see it in my own country, I see it in many civil law countries, and being a lawyer myself, I realize where it's coming from. It is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Convention to think that that substitute decision making is a means under the Convention to protect persons with disabilities. We need States parties need to change the system to a supported decision making system and provide the support necessary for persons with disabilities to take their decisions. And if they cannot express their will and preference, The support system needs to decide not in the best interest of the person, but based on the best available interpretation of that person's will and preference. That, in a nutshell, is the logic of the Convention, and I thought, based on yesterday's discussion, it might not be superfluous to make this comment. Thank you for listening.

Thank you so much. Excellency, do you want to reply?

Well, I know it wasn't really a question, but we can express an opinion and the Ministry of Justice will do that.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair and Head of Delegation. I agree with some of the issues raised by Mr Schaefer. Despite this, I wanted to say that there was no scaling back of rights here. In Chile, we have no such cases of civil death pursuant to Article 95 of the Civil Code. So a person with disability is not deprived of their rights. They maintain their assets, and enjoy those rights and can make a declaration of will. This is something that happens in many of these cases and this is in line with the information I gave you yesterday, but I can categorically say that there is no withdrawal of rights. Thank you.

Mr Hiroshi Tamon, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My first question is in regards to Article 14. Are there any established professional sign language training systems or capacity building programs specifically designed for professionals working within the judicial sector? Current information suggests that training opportunities in this field remain insufficient, contributing to persistent barriers to accessibility for deaf individuals.

The National Disability Service will address this question. Thank you.

First of all, Let me say that with respect to the official recognition of sign language of Chile, from January 2021, we had promulgated law 21303 promoting the use of Chilean sign language. Recognising that it is the national original language and part of the intangible heritage of deaf persons and part of their collective and individual identity, the state recognises it as the official language of deaf persons. The state is therefore obliged to promote and respect the use and the exercise of the cultural and language heritage of deaf persons and must ensure their access to public and private services, to education, the labour market and all aspects of sign language within their daily lives. Educational facilities also have to include training in Chilean sign language as a first or a second language through the certification system and the vocational training programs in Chile. We have now got persons that are involved in training and teaching Chilean sign language. We believe that in preference this should be carried out by qualified persons. If we consider the educational profiles or rather the profiles of educational staff in Chile, we want to make sure that there is at least one deaf teacher in all.

Educational facilities.

Since 2014 to date, we have increased the number of Chilean sign language interpreters in educational establishments. We've gone from roughly 100 interpreters in 2014 to 230 or even more interpreters in 2025. As we said yesterday, to date, we are awaiting promulgation of a regulation governing sign language interpreter training and ensuring that the mechanisms for teaching the sign language are in place. We know that this is a challenge and we know it's a priority and progress must be made in the short term.

I would like to kindly ask to the delegations when you response to the questions from our colleagues, member of committee, please, based on the detailed data. And now we have several member of the committee. Miss Gerald Dondorp, you have the floor.

I have a question under Article 19. I have learned from your slides that you have implemented a number of services to persons with disabilities to ensure their independent living. Regarding that, I have a particular question on personal assistance service. So just provide some data regarding this area, for example, How many persons with disabilities have received personal assistant training for 2025? And if possible, please provide amount of the resources or budget allocated to the services for 2025. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Ms. Louisa Bosley, you have the floor.

A very good morning to one and all.

I wish to extend a greeting to the delegation from Chile.

I have a question on Article 21. I'm thinking about cases of earthquakes and natural disasters that strike this country. I am wondering what measures are in place to make sure that persons with disabilities can receive early warning of these natural disasters and earthquakes. What happens in public establishments and schools in these cases? And do you have any data? telling us about what has been done to ensure that persons with disabilities are saved in such cases or rescued. Are there interpreters provided in these cases? It really is a case about ensuring that there is accessible information provided to persons with disabilities.

Thank you so much. I would now like to give the floor to Ms. Amalia Camio.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Very briefly, I wanted to ask some follow-up questions because I did not really receive a reply on Article 12 and really backing up what my colleague, Mr. Scheffer, said. We would like this prohibition to be, or rather this revoking of legal capacity to be removed from the civil code and to make sure that there can be supported decision making. So a reply in writing please. And then I wanted to raise the question about involuntary hospital admissions because this runs counter to Article 14. Could you also give us information about what has been done in relation to the 2019 social uprising? I have a specific question too. If we think about support services, we know that The individual mode has been withdrawn and it's just the collective mode that is left. Uh, I, we wonder why this has been done and, uh, on the 3%, uh, fiscal, uh, uh, uh, uh, amendments and what is planned for following years, can you tell us what special measures have been taken to make sure that these changes don't disproportionately affect persons with disabilities? They could affect the independent life of persons with disabilities. Moving on to Article 21, The community of persons with disabilities complains that there is not enough heed paid to their needs. We have heard, for example, of deaf women who have had to attend medical appointments on their own and were not able to have an assistant. What is being done to help women, especially deaf women?

Making sure that they have access to the services, to justice, to healthcare.

Thank you.

Lastly, we have one more question from Mr. Marco Schaefer.

Thank you, Chair. Again, thank you for the possibility to give a brief reply to the answer by the Ministry of Justice. The concern we have with the civil code of Chile and its law on personhood is not that there is something like civil death, meaning that people are not bearers of rights. Article 12 of our convention does not solely deal with having rights, but also with exercising those rights. And our concern is with the rules in the law on personhood on exercising the rights. Nobody claims that Chile has civil death, but what we see is that persons with disabilities who are deemed incapable of forming their own will and expressing their own preferences are then provided with a guardian who speaks in their stead, and that is the problem that the civil code of Chile has with the convention, and it is by far not the only civil code that has that problem because it was the system that the French introduced in 1804 and everybody else copied. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

From now until 11:05, you have the time to reply to these follow-up questions. Excellency, you have the floor.

Thank you so much.

So now this, the National Disability Service will in provide the initial answers and others will then add to this. Thank you very much. First of all, on support services, this was a follow up question addressed to us. It is important to point out that in August 2026, the register of support service providers for disability has 3,781 persons on the register. Of these, 3,305 are natural persons and 7.5%, in other words, 475, are legal entities. Within those individuals, there can of course be persons with disabilities who themselves provide support services. When it comes to natural persons or individuals, they are providing care and assistance. 2,383 persons, 72.1% of service providers, are natural persons. And for interim mediator services, we have 15% of persons on the register providing these services. So that's what we can tell you about support service providers. We've also been asked about programmes to help people transition to independent living and.

The individual mode which has been withdrawn, whether this was due to budgetary cuts.

Now to answer this question, we have to say that the programme for transition is being recast, but it's not due to budgetary changes. It's because the effective coverage of programme is very low, as civil society told us yesterday. We have to improve the service to ensure that it provides proper support in order to ensure that persons with disabilities can enjoy this right. As a service, we have now received a positive recommendation from our ministry to make sure that we can build on the experience that we've gathered so far in developing the program throughout the country and can now finance a new community-based service support provision. And this is something that will be rolled out next year in 2027. In relation to emergency situations, in our country, we have specific regulations to ensure accessible information and communication is provided as part of our emergency and disaster risk management programme. So in these situations when we have television broadcasts, Pursuant to law, it must be provided with subtitles and sign language interpretation. We know that the regulation covering television broadcasts Now, the National Disability Service, together with the Ministry for Social Development and the Family, have been working together across sectors to promote inclusive information. We have heard about this from the head of delegation yesterday. We have the SINAPRE program on emergency and disaster risk management and there is an early warning system as part of this. In our country, we are being affected by such situations as is happening in the north at the moment and the alert and evacuation Alerts are transmitted by text message and we ensure that there is accessible information provided to all persons so they can be evacuated and preserve their life. Finally, to address the question of deaf women and how they can have access to justice and healthcare services on an equal footing, we have a legal framework ensuring that there must be accessible information. We have made progress in implementation in sign language training and education. When it comes to justice and the healthcare system, we don't have a specific profile of interpreters that can be used in these sectors. We recognise this is a challenge. We try to set up assistance networks to make sure that comprehensive assistance can be provided in healthcare. looking at this more closely. And as a state, we are aware of the gaps and are working hard to try and make up the shortfall in service provision.

If you excuse us, because finally we have one more question from our committee member, Ms. Inmaculada, you have the floor.

Yes, very good day to you once again. My question is a follow-up question to the information that you've provided. It's very good news that information to individuals in emergency situations, information provided to the public, is provided in accessible formats or that you're making efforts to ensure this is so. Obviously communication too, not just information, has to be accessible. So say a person contacts, say, an emergency hotline, whatever number that is, these are persons that have to contact emergency services. we need to ensure that the responses and replies that they get are accessible. A deaf person, for example, cannot reply in real time using SMS messaging, so perhaps there should be a consideration of video messages and so on and so forth. So my question is what is being done to make sure that Uh, one way communication really is accessible, uh, so that it really can be accessed by persons in emergency situations.

President of the Senate is going to reply and then we'll hear further information.

Thank you very much Madam Chair and thank you for the question. Let me give you some context. In the Antofagasta region in the north of the country as well as in further regions there is an emergency situation due to heavy rain and flooding and we Um, pursuant to law, um, the relevant law on emergency response, well, this replaced, uh, the emergency, uh, law. with various enabling legislations, and particularly interested in mentioning Article 25 and risk management plans must identify and consider in all of its aspects, not just access to information, but throughout the implementation, they must consider carers, children, persons with disabilities and older persons within the care system of the state to ensure their protection, their inclusion and their timely access to specific support. So in our view, this is a significant change that's come in to the emergency and disaster management program. So we do have these frequent situations, earthquakes, flooding, et cetera. This is governed by law and there is provision for persons with disabilities.

Sinnott will add to the answers. Sinnott, yesterday we mentioned the national plan for universal accessibility, which is one of the initiatives of the current government. One of the main thrusts of work in the plan is accessibility of information and communication. One of the measures foreseen in this area is inclusive risk management. So with regards to your question about recognizing and identifying certain progress in accessibility, we can refer first of all to the national plan on universal accessibility. All competent entities in the area of risk management are called upon to participate. I would also like to say that in our service we have developed a course for public officials on inclusive risk management which has included distributing a guide on this subject. It was distributed in August of this year and contains a series of recommendations to public entities in order to ensure that their response in these situations for persons with disabilities includes making accessibility measures a priority. So I can give you the example of how we managed the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, the National Women and Gender Equality Service reporting of gender-based violence against women with disabilities. They could do so by a telephone hotline and at the same time they created a specific WhatsApp channel for women with disabilities with sign language interpreting. I think it's important to ensure accessibility in these contexts and in both directions, as the expert pointed out.

Ms. Inmaculada, you have floor for further question.

Inmaculada Porrero. Thank you very much for the information which we have received from the report and during the course of this meeting. I would like to know if you call 131 using real-time captioning and sign language interpreting, do you receive the answer in the same format? If not, are there plans to ensure this? This is a concrete example I'd like to hear more about. This is in addition to what happens with the police and the fire service. It's a challenge. I don't think it's easy. It's not something which exists around the world. But I wonder if you're aware of the need and if you have specific plans, if this is not already available, how do you plan to make sure it is available?

This segment will be closed at 11:05. So within the time, would you reply? Yes, until 11.05. Thank you so much.

Head of Delegation, the Ministry of Health will reply.

Ministry of Health. Thank you, Minister. Good morning, everybody. With regard to the specific question which has just been asked by the committee member, I'd like to refer to two aspects. Firstly, on health. During the pandemic, the Ministry of Health set up a platform called Health Response, which has video call responses for deaf people who use Chilean sign language. There was an interpreter available and over 39,000 people used this service. I would like to say that there is two-way communication through this service. It wasn't restricted to the pandemic period, but has turned into a permanent channel of health response from the Ministry of Health. I would also like to point out that the criminal police has sign language interpreting and they've modernised their police station in order to ensure accessibility for persons using sign language and there are also video calls service for people contacting the Carabineros service, they are the kind of military police.

Yes, thank you so much. Respected delegation provide the answers and informations. Now we will have a break time until 11:15. Thank you so much. And colleagues and delegation, please be seated. 15. Excellency and delegations and colleagues, please be seated. We have to start right now. This meeting is resumed. We will now proceed to cluster three. The cluster three concerns article 21 to 30 and 31, 32, 33 of the convention. First, I will give the floor to Mr. Majino Kofrin. and he will continue the remaining article within he assigned range and will raise question concerning article 21 to through 26 and miss get through for me will give the question from 27 to 33 Mr. you have the floor.

Mr. Magino Corporan, I'm going to immediately give the floor to Inmaculada Porrero.

Thank you very much, Magino. This is Inmaculada Plasencia Porrero. So, as I said a few moments ago, We appreciate the efforts that you have made for ensuring access to sign language, particularly through Act 21303. In the report, you informed us that you had trained 235 interpreters by 2021. What's happened since then? And do you think that you've achieved satisfactory results to meet the demands from deaf persons to have sign language interpretation? And what plans have you got to roll out further sign language interpretation services in Chile? So that's my first question that I have on Article 21. Second point with regard to implementing the implementation from 2016 and your regulation accessibility of websites and government platforms. Can you inform us what you're doing to monitor compliance by websites and platforms with the regulations? And I'd like to know what percentage of public websites meet compulsory accessibility standards. When it comes to rural areas and people living in poverty, I'd like to know what are you doing to close the gap? in the availability of assistive devices and telecommunications devices. So these people can have access to these websites and platforms. They can be accessible, but obviously people need the devices in order to be able to communicate with those websites and platforms. So that's the second question I have. And then the third question I have with regard to the accessibility of audio visual information, can you tell us about what you're doing to ensure that there is consistent application of the standards concerning the availability of captioning and sign language interpretation on broadcasts. And I'd also like to know what measures have you taken to ensure that public service providers provide information about the services and the services themselves in accessible formats. So this would include knowing if you are going to make it compulsory for private websites to meet accessibility standards. And also like to know what measures are taken. Once the measures become compulsory to ensure that there is implementation, what are you going to do about awareness raising, monitoring and ensuring skills? And what are you going to do if there is noncompliance? And these then are my questions on Article 21. I'd appreciate if you could answer them specifically. Thank you very much.

Head of delegation, the National Disability Service will answer.

Thank you very much. With regard to the first question concerning training of sign language interpreters, we have increased the number of sign language interpreters working in educational establishments. By 2025, we will have We had reached 243 interpreters in that setting. At the same time, the Ministry of Education has held a series of working meetings with universities from different regions in order to consider setting up a degree course in sign language interpreting. There's initial proposal with the syllabus for a course lasting eight semesters. This dates from 2024. This proposal is now being analyzed by a technical working group to see if this kind of training can be formally offered in our country. At the moment, we only have a labour skills certification, which is what I referred to a few moments ago. With regard to public services websites and monitoring them, The regulation referred to by the committee member is still in force. Generally speaking, monitoring and compliance inspections of public entities is undertaken by the Controller General's office. So if there is a complaint made by a person with disability or any other citizen about non-compliance with regulations in force, they can lodge that complaint with the Controller General's office. The National Disability Service does not have the competence for undertaking compliance inspections and handing down penalties if there is non-compliance with regulations on accessibility in the public domain. So currently, we do not know how many public entities websites meet the accessibility standards which are contained in the regulation. But this is information which we can obtain and send to you in writing. With regard to the accessibility of audio visual information, the state has deployed efforts to ensure that there are subtitles and sign language interpreters on TV programmes throughout the country. In this regard, I would like to tell you about the regulations in force. We've already referred to Article 25 of Act 2422, which stipulates that certain television programmes must have sign language interpreting and captioning or subtitles. the regulations for enforcing this implementation is still before Parliament. And this is why certain cases have been brought to the justice system. So that's why we appreciate this question about accessibility. I was also telling you yesterday that we have a legal framework which enshrines certain legal action which can be taken when there is disability based discrimination or other suspicious cases of discrimination foreseen in Act 2609. So this means that you can bring special proceedings also under the special inclusion law These cases can be brought before the courts of justice and in local police courts when there is a lack of accessibility, for example, in the area of communications. There have been a number of cases brought by the deaf community, notably when there is a lack of subtitles and sign language interpreting on TV programmes. Generally, When these proceedings are brought, they lead to convictions. When it comes to efforts to promoting sign language interpreting in the private domain, I'd like to tell you that the current regulations in force on accessibility are also compulsory for private entities. As a result, they must meet the legal requirements. The National Disability Service has permanent strategies for public private cooperation in order to promote accessibility and social inclusion different walks of life including in the area of information and communications and so we often provide materials and recommendations in order to ensure that information is delivered, delivered accessibly by both public and private entities and when I'm talking about accessibility I'm not just referring to subtitling and sign language interpreting. I'm also talking about easy read, braille and other augmentative and alternative formats of communication. This has been the case since we in 2023, we enacted a law on Persons with autistic spectrum disorders, which foresees the delivery of information in pictogram formats.

Amalia Gamio, I would like, sorry, Maculada Porreiro, I would like to ask two follow-up questions. In 2021, there were 235 trained sign language interpreters. You've just told me that the number only increased to 243 by 2025. Is that generally speaking, or are you just talking about interpreters working in educational establishments? Or are there many more sign language interpreters? Because I'd like to understand how the numbers have progressed better. You have also referred to compliance, but you don't have the percentages as yet, we'd be pleased to receive that. So what percentage of public and private entities comply with the legal obligations on accessibility contained in the law that you mentioned? So we eagerly await adoption of the regulation before Parliament on audiovisual contents. And we hope that that will lead to consistent implementation of the rules not only on subtitling and sign language interpreting, but to ensure that there is universal accessibility of information provided throughout the territory. Maghino Corporan Lorenzo.

Listen the reply from the delegation. After that, you can give the floor. You can give the question. Please respect the delegation. Go ahead. But would you reply more consciously and then?

Short.

National Disability Service. I would like to thank the committee member for follow-up questions so I can provide you with clarifications. I gave you the figure of 243 sign language interpreters in 2025 working in the educational setting. That's the figure that we've been provided by the Ministry of Education. When it comes to the total number of sign language interpreters working in other settings, health, justice and so on and so forth, we haven't got a full register of all the sign language interpreters. Thank you very much.

Mr. Maghino, you have the floor.

Maghino Corporan Lorenzo. Thank you. Madam Chair, I'd like to ask questions on articles 22 and 23, and I'd also like to ask a follow-up question, a very brief one, and if you haven't got enough time to answer now, please submit the answer in writing, and that question is on article 21. So I'd like to know what is the timeframe for adopting the outstanding regulations on sign language interpreting and access to audio visual information, and what measures are being taken to ensure there are enough professional sign language interpreters throughout the country. I would also like to know what measures and compliance mechanisms do you have in order to ensure that websites, platforms do digital services and audiovisual information of public interest is compliant with the rules. And I'd also like to know when you're going to update the sign language dictionary. And I would also like to know if there is an ethical code of conduct for sign language interpreters.

And that's what I had to ask in relation to follow-up questions under Article 21. Now, on Article 22 and privacy, I would like to ask what specific measures the state has put in place to investigate, prevent and sanction cyber attacks, or cyber harassment, rather, and what has been the outcome of these measures? What measures exist to prevent bias and discrimination on the grounds of disability in AI systems and to ensure that there is proper participation of persons with disabilities in the governance of such systems? Is there a code of ethics for sign language interpreters? and for healthcare professionals when they manage medical information relating to a deaf person's that's where my that's my question on article 22 and moving on to article 23 with apologies for all interpreters because I'm speaking so quickly my question is what measures and will the state put in place and when will it do so in order to do away with the barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from marrying and starting a family and exercising their parental rights? What specific measures is the State planning to prevent separating children from their families or institutionalising children on the grounds of their disability or on the grounds of their parents' disability? What support do you provide for families and to mothers with disabilities?

Thank you.

We'll start with the last question. The Ministry of Justice will reply. Thank you very much.

Now, on this topic, particularly if referring to parental rights, we can see that a person's disability status does not prevent the enjoyment of their rights and their right to live with their children. This comes under Article 225 of the Civil Code. This is relevant information in answer to your question. As to consent for marriage, This is governed by law 19947, article five. And here we have situations which are considered impediments to marrying relating to two areas. First of all, when the actual aims of the marriage cannot be achieved or when a person is not able to express their will. Consent to marriage is very specifically governed. Article 18 says that the civil official has to ensure that there is appropriate consent to the aims of marriage. The laws dating back to 2013 have very specific requirements in this area. The prosecution service will add further information.

Thank you.

Just to add to what's been said, I wanted to say that in 2024, we saw the publication of new guidelines and implementation criteria in cases of sexual exploitation and digital violence against children. And the guidelines on sexual violence have a specific focus on persons with disabilities, particularly looking at intersectional areas as regards children too.

Mr. Magino, you have the floor again.

Thank you very much, my colleague. And I will be asking a number of questions here based on the invitation of the task force members. And I'll be asking them in two sections because it's quite a bit of questions. Has a national plan for education inclusion already been implemented? What measures are being implemented to redirect resources from special schools to inclusive education? Has the state provided funding for law number 20,000, 903/2015 concerning continued pedagogical training of teachers. Does the State guarantee continuous and free training for teachers, school principals, support staff to expand their knowledge of disability? How does this State intend to promote the genuine inclusion of students with disabilities in schools, including in remote and rural areas? Considering the high number of students per class and teachers' inability to adequately attend to children, with disabilities, does the state plan to deploy special education teachers to support regular classrooms and provide teachers with the essential tools for teaching? We have information that out of a total of 1,048 establishments With schools integration programme, only 56 have deaf teachers or deaf coeducators. The pilot project referred to in response 145 aimed at implementing online Chilean sign language courses in establishment with students with hearing disabilities produce results? Has it already been formalized? How many deaf students have been included in mainstream education? And so I will break it there and then I come back with the last set of questions. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Excellency.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will address this issue. Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and my thanks to the expert for asking this question. So the Ministry of Education of Chile has provided information providing and we can provide in writing more specific figures once the meeting is over. On the promotion of a culture of diversity in education, the Ministry of Education has been involving students with disabilities and those with special needs, and they implement, uh, school integration programs known as the PIEs. we try and put in place conditions fostering access, participation, learning and ensuring that children with disabilities stay in school. The guiding principles are equality and We can see in Chile that special needs students involved in these inclusion programs have been growing over time, over the past 10 years. We had 314,000 students. at the beginnings of this program, in 2025, this figure rose to 475,000 plus students. That is a significant increase, both in absolute and in relative terms. And these figures also show that this increase, in fact, occurred at a time when overall enrollment of students decreased. So there's an increased representation of students with disabilities within enrolled students. We can see that there is a greater presence in entering special needs, but there are also students with ongoing special needs. We now have 28.4% of students with special needs. Now on training, the Ministry of Education has told us that through its vocational training program, it has constantly rolled out training programs to provide pedagogical education on disability and social inclusion amongst others. All of these actions try and boost the skills of educational teams and of teachers to foster the learning and training of all students in different educational contexts.

Between 2023 and 26, 13 training programs.

Were carried out to capacity building for inclusive education, diversity in education amongst others. and there are different programs as part of this. Overall, 9,459 teachers and teaching staff have been trained. Furthermore, the Ministry of Education can tell you that currently we have more than 6,000 schools that have school education programmes in urban but also.

Rural areas.

And to conclude on the deaf community, which has been mentioned. activities conducted try and promote accessibility, participation, and recognition of Chilean sign language as communication means for this community, promoting an inclusive approach throughout the educational establishment.

We have a national competition of left literature as of 2024.

More than 200 works produced by students with disabilities throughout the country and throughout the educational system have been submitted as part of this and all of it is available on the Ministry of Education website. And finally, students with disabilities in relation to them since 2008, there has been an evaluation of students with sensory disabilities. These evaluations try and assess the adaptations which are required and we try and make sure that all groups are treated in the same way. On sensory disabilities, there have been responses and we have been providing braille material and alternative forms of communication. We have also been implementing actions for students with severe disabilities. We provide support for students that are not able to read easily, for example. And in March 2023, we included teaching assistants in schools helping children to sustain the testing compulsory testing that occurs at this age and also on managing of emotions and if if they're on for pupils on the autistic spectrum we have been implementing augmentative and alternative communication systems when appropriate thank you.

Thank you so much Mr. Majno, I would like to kindly inform you that because still we have eight articles, including Miss Guthrie's performance questions, it must be finished within 30 minutes. So would you give your questions quickly and then maybe you can give your follow question after this segment. I mean the after Miss, uh, got through performance, uh, questions. So Mr. Morris, would you give the, uh, quickly, uh, your, uh, question about the article 24?

Finish these questions then, Madam Chair. According to response 146, 30% of students with disabilities remain in special education. When does the state plan to include them in the mainstream education? We have information that the 18 state universities consulted, 16 responded and only 28% have an institutional policy for supporting students with disabilities. In other words, 72% of the state universities surveyed lack institutional policies. How do you intend to correct this problem? How does the State collect statistical information on the number of students with disabilities and deaf students who enter public and private higher education institutions, their retention and their graduation, with a view to improving support? What measures have the State adopted to promote the academic and professional training of deaf teachers to teach sign language and deaf culture with a view to addressing the needs of the 95% of program of school integration establishments that are not ensuring this right. That is the set of question, final set of question, Madam Chair.

Thank you so much, Mr. Magino, you have the floor for your question about the 26.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So on Article 25, please provide maternal and infant mortality figures for Chile. Considering the response of Chile to the COVID-19 pandemic, could you please provide disaggregated data on the number of persons with disabilities affected?

How many were infected with COVID? How many died? How many people have had lingering effects from the virus? and how many had pre-existing conditions which affected their care, particularly diabetes, depression, including figures on deaf persons and persons with psychosocial disabilities.

I have a further question. under this article. I am wondering whether you have indicators on the participation of multidisciplinary teams in medical diagnoses for persons with disabilities. Thank you in advance for your answers. I do have a further question.

What specific measures, with budgets and timelines, will the State put in place to avoid the physical, digital and other barriers to access to health, including the availability of professional Chilean sign language interpreters? What actions and timetables have you put in place to change the situation relating to supported decision making and access to free prior and informed consent. And I'm also interested in the issue of sexual reproductive health for women. with disabilities.

On 25 and 26, what measures with budgets and timelines has?

The State put in place to ensure ongoing constant access to rehabilitation, technical assistance and support technology throughout the life cycle of persons with disabilities, particularly in rural and remote areas? What specific measures will the State put in place to do away with the administrative and financial barriers to having access to such technical assistance and to ensure there is public provision of rehabilitation, particularly for children, as this would reduce dependency on private donors. Thank you.

So initial answers will be.

Provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to address the issues on education and then the Ministry of.

Health will provide further answers. Thank you very much.

To very quickly answer the expert on higher education, Chile recognizes that continuity in education for persons with disabilities means that we have better coordination between the different educational levels, particularly the transition from special education to technical or vocational training and higher education.

We have put in place through the DNV.

Better transition to make sure that persons that need accommodation can access it. This is appropriate to individual needs. We provide additional time or breaks or macro type Chinese sign language interpreters, support for question and answer sessions and other measures besides.

All of this is.

Through a technical process which considers the background of each person and a specialised interdisciplinary team steps in to assist. We look at barriers and ensure there is try and get equal access to higher education. And then under 24 to two, we state that there must be mechanisms to ensure access for persons with disability. There must be adapted educational texts and materials. And it also says the Ministry of Education must provide training programs, ensuring access to education and to training for the employment market for persons with disabilities. Thank you.

Thank you for giving me the floor, Madam Minister. Let me first of all address budgetary issues and then moving on to COVID and sexual reproductive health. And many thanks for these questions. The Ministry of Education is committed to allocating resources, making sure that we can have habilitation and rehabilitation services in the communities. This is relating to the list of issues question 21. We want to provide rehabilitation services to adults that require it and we have occupational therapists as well as others providing the necessary input and we have community and family health centers where these services are provided throughout the country between 2020 2022 and 2026, the budget of the program increased by 7 billion pesos. It now is 20 billion pesos, about a 50% increase. And in 2025, we saw health problem number 87 requiring rehabilitation. This meant that we were able to include a special professional team. This meant we had better comprehensive care provided to beneficiaries and we didn't just extend the coverage of the programme. So, we have also included persons with disabilities who had lasting effects from various SARS-CoV-2. We have a national database of covid cases and a disability register, so we are happy to be able to inform the committee that we had 20,000 cases and in 2021 more than 90 we had 91,000 in 2022 and 10,000 in 2023. These are figures for persons with disabilities with COVID that also had a disability register. And this year we've conducted an exercise saying six died in 2020, 2022 was two, and 2024 was one person died. And the Ministry of Health only has available new cases since 2017 following registration. and we don't have access to the historic basis of figures from the database which are administered by the civil administration. So we're trying to make progress in this area. According to 2022 figures, 118 persons with disabilities had access to healthcare centers. On vaccination against Covid, in December 2020, we made persons with disabilities on the national disability register the priority for vaccination, as well as those with severe psychosocial or intellectual disabilities living in residential centres, or others who had serious mental health problems. On sexual and reproductive health, I can say that our national policy in this area in 2018 expressly recognised persons with disabilities as one of those groups that do find that there are barriers in accessing their rights and law 2331 looks at the issue of autonomy for persons with particular disabilities. And circular nine of 2022 lays down that, uh, surgical sterilization requires free and informed consent and that, uh, capacity, uh, and that a lack of capacity does not justify replacing someone's own consent, uh, to this. So we've seen a change to previous decree 570 and there now has to be clear, comprehensive information with support and reasonable accommodation provided in these cases in sign language or easy read formats in order to facilitate consent. The section reproductive health survey 2022-23 for the first time included a module on disability. allowing us to estimate the prevalence of disability in the population over the age of 18 and compare the access of persons with disabilities to different healthcare services, particularly including sexual reproductive health services. The ministry recognizes that having a legal framework is a requirement, but it's not enough to ensure the effective exercise of sexual reproductive health rights of persons with disabilities. we obviously have guidance in ensuring we have an inclusive social and development policy. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Just still we have reminded seven articles questions from Ms. Gathuru Popome. So now I would like to give the floor to Ms. Gathuru Popome. She will give the questions from article 27 through to 33. So I would like to extend 15 minutes more for her questions. So Ms. Katreh Popome, you have the floor until 12:30.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I join in welcoming the delegations and thank you for the work so far. In order to try to save some time, I will appeal that I put questions for article 27 and 28 together. So, 27, work and employment. A couple of questions there, please. We have observed significant gaps as we went through the information. And so the first point is what measures has the State Party taken to reduce unemployment and decrease participation of persons with disabilities in the open labour market, particularly for women with disabilities and persons with disabilities living in rural areas? Please, how have you addressed persistent wage gaps? Also what steps has been taken to strengthen the implementation and enforcement of Act number 2105 on labour inclusion? as amended by Act number 21690. And this also includes measures adapted to address noncompliance with employment quota. What are the sanctions in place, please? How does the State Party ensure that exemptions and alternative compliance mechanisms and the Act 21105, including donations, do not replace direct and sustainable recruitment of persons with disabilities. And I also want to know the steps adopted to high rate of termination of employment contracts. What has been put in place to stop this, please? And what is in place to improve retention, the quality of sustainability of employment? And would you please help us to measures to eliminate discrimination and barriers, any sufficient awareness of reasonable accommodation and its obligations by employers? So article 28, please what time frame does the state anticipate in raising, for raising domestic solidarity pension to at least the poverty line? And what improvements are being made to the pension system to increase the amount of government contributions to people with disabilities. We would also like to know the steps that a state party is taking to expand disability-related social protection, including financial assistance, support services, and assistance with disability-related expenses, particularly for persons with disabilities and their families living in poverty? How is the State party ensuring adequate coverage and resourcing of support and care services for persons with disabilities under the national system of support and care established by Act No. 21.05, including support for unpaid givers? And we would like to know the steps taken to reduce multidimensional poverty and deprivation among children and adolescents with disability, including territorial disparities affecting those living in rural areas. Thank you for the two for now.

Thank you so much, Excellency, you have the floor.

Head of delegation, the Ministry of Labour will answer. Ministry of Labour, thank you very much Madam Chair. try and answer the questions. There are a whole range of subjects, but I'll try and focus with regard to Article 27 and the measures to comply with the law on labour inclusion, ending unemployment, promoting inclusion, review mechanisms and others. I'd just like to remind you that the law 21015 on labour inclusion has been strengthened by two subsequent laws. Firstly, 21275, which establishes the obligation to have an inclusion, a labour inclusion manager. And This has led to certification profiles through the programme Chile Values You and the law 21690 of August of 2024, which was referred to, includes an increase in the threshold or the quota of employees with disabilities from one to two percent and furthermore establishes fines for non-compliance. There are shortfalls which we have recognized and we're doing our best to remedy them. There is 44.7% compliance in the public sector in 2025, which was a 3.9 percentage points increase compared to 2023. In the private sector, compliance is 25.7%. Overall, compliance is 26.9% with a 4.5 percentage point increase. In June 2026, there were some 56,000 labour contracts linked to this law. 63% of them are non fixed term contracts and 30.8% are fixed term contracts. The remainder are certain Activity contracts. We have opted for more demanding criteria for valuing. Or evaluating, I should say compliance because otherwise. We could claim there was 58.1% compliance in the private sector. In addition to the regulations which I mentioned just a few moments ago, I would also like to refer to the measures that we have taken on compliance expectations. In 2025, the Labor Directorate conducted almost 4000 inspections and there were some 36 fines imposed of some 626 million pesos. Another aspect which we have been dealing with is capacity building. The programme Chile Values You, which grants the certificates for inclusion managers, which is regulated by law 21675, has delivered over 9000 such certificates and there's around 30% of them to persons with disabilities. Obviously this is an area which we would like to see improvements in. Now with regard to Minister, I'm sorry to interrupt you, says the head of delegation, but we've only got one minute left for the rest of our answers. Other measures concern training. We have the National Training Service, which has a universal programme, also has a complementary programme, which is training for employment with disabilities. 5,219 people took part in it. In October this year, we'll have a unified benefit for employers who hire workers with disabilities. And we also have a pool of labor intermediation, which fosters labor inclusion. And furthermore, also, ensures that information is accessible in line with international standards. There are further support mechanisms for persons with disabilities. We have the basic disability pension and the basic disability contribution as well as the subsidy for children with disabilities, that is to say the under 18s.

I can kindly ask the delegation to keep its response concise because we have limited time. So now I would like to give the floor to Ms. Gaturu Popome.

Yes, thanks for the answers provided, but our starting points include the fact that We didn't hear about how persons are being retained. We didn't also hear about the wage issue, and we didn't hear about reasonable accommodation and other services also. We didn't hear much about what is available in support for those in rural areas. This outstanding, I will continue as a result of time. So 29, participation on political and public life. What legal and other measures has the State party taken to remove all restrictions under the right to vote and participate in political and public life on the basis of disabilities? And we are taking note of the fact of the legal incapacity or declarations of insanity, very prominent and important to us. How do you ensure equal participation of women with disabilities in the regulations and protocols? And what examples of leadership positions that you have with the support you have so far offered? What affirmative measures has been adopted to increase participation and representation? And this, apart from the positions, we also want to know about parties and elected committees and positions. Then accessibility of all stages. What measures are in place to ensure that including polling stations, voting procedures, electoral positions, vote campaign materials, are available, including Chilean sign language and tactile information. I please want to continue with participation in cultural life, recreation and sports. What steps have you taken to establish and enforce accessibility requirements for publicly funded cultural and artistic activities, materials and productions, including films and audiovisual content. Next point is how is the state party strengthen implementation of Act number 22978 and other measures promoting inclusive sports and ensuring that sports programs, facilities and infrastructure are accessible to persons with different, and I stress the difference, because usually when we do the physical, we leave the rest, with the categories of disabilities. I'll pause here for answer. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you so much.

Excellency, you have the floor.

Head of Delegation, we'll start our answers with the last question, Senator Kaitell, and then the National Disability Service will take over.

Senator Kaitell, thank you, Chair. I would like to begin by thanking the committee for addressing the issue of sport for persons with disabilities. The Ministry of Sport was only recently established in 2013. So we've only been around for 13 years, but we've achieved a great deal in adapted sport for persons with disabilities in that time. I would like to distinguish between competitive sport or sport for leisure. Now, when it comes to competitive sport, Chile has had the huge honor over the past 10 years of hosting four very important events, the Para Pan American Games, the Para South American Games, and in 2027, we're going to be hosting the World Special Olympics, which will bring together thousands of children with intellectual disabilities who will be competing in Chile. So, years of preparation for that. We built massive sports infrastructure for the Para Pan American Games in 2023. It was universally accessible, that infrastructure. So it meant that Chilean para athletes have reached a very high level with one Paralympic medals, and this is in the space of just over 10 years. We have 16 regions in our country, 20 million inhabitants, and so children, adults, and older adults with disabilities have had free access to the sports venues we have thanks to accessibility. The Ministry of Sport and its partners have set up different programmes, including the Movements Programme, which means that all educational establishments and the 345 municipalities along the length and breadth of the country have provided training and have addressed the best ways of incorporating children with disabilities into adapted sport. I think it's also important to underscore that we also have the Para National Games, which focus on school sport. Only ten years ago, adaptive sport just didn't exist in our regions. We also have a new law coming into force in 2027 which will compel almost all educational establishments in the country to have at least one hour of physical activity every day of the week. This is thanks to a joint effort between the ministries of education, sport and social development. This will enable us to draft the protocols and further promote adapted sport. So that's what I had to say for the time being. I'd like to ask the National Disability Service to refer to cultural aspects.

I would just like to say for my part that persons with physical disabilities are aware of the need to ensure that all the mechanisms are available so that there is universal access to culture. Thank you.

Head of delegation, the Ministry of Justice will provide further answers.

Ministry of Justice, thank you. I'll be as concise as I possibly can. Firstly, An observation was made to Chile in 2016. And in the answer to that, we replied that there was forthcoming constitutional reform, which would remove insanity as a basis for preventing electoral participation. This was then archived. I would just like to say that we need special majority for constitutional reforms of this nature, which is sometimes difficult to obtain. When it comes to effective participation, not only do we have the Ministry of Culture who has a physical disability, we also have another government minister with physical disability. And as the head of delegation has already pointed out, there are at least two senators and one member of parliament who have disabilities. Now, when it comes to elections, we've made tangible progress since 2017 when we introduced assisted voting and this is available for persons with disability certificates in 2024. Over 400,000 people voted in this way and we had 360,000 participate in the elections in that way last year. I would also like to point out that in 2024, the electoral service crew signed a protocol with the civil registry, which enabled us to find out where the electoral addresses were of all the voters who needed assisted voting so that they could go to the nearest polling station to their homes. So this means that We have braille voting cards and that there is training for polling station officers and we have gradually improved the number of accessible polling stations, ensuring that they're on the ground floor. In 2025, we also introduced fines for those people who did not vote, but there is exemption from that fine for persons who are registered disabled. So we can say then that we have made considerable progress in this area.

Thank you so much.

Any information that cannot be provided right now, which is submitted to the committee in writing. Ms. Getrue Popome, you have the floor again.

I think two questions, pick one, one is population and one is regular census. So the first one is how have you strengthened disability data systems including by systematically incorporating the Washington Group tools? Have you been using the child functioning model into population surveys and census? And then for regular, what steps have you taken to ensure regular collection, harmonization, publication and use of data disaggregated by age, sex, disability, indigenous, migrant status, socioeconomic status and geographical location? How has this information been used for policy formulation, program and budgeting? And how do organizations of persons with disabilities involved into this? International cooperation, another article please. What mechanisms has the State Party established to ensure the close consultation and active involvement of organisations of persons with disabilities, including those of women and girls with disabilities, indigenous persons with disabilities, and minority groups living in minority rural places in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of international cooperation strategies and programs. So this one, a vivid example of what is happening and what programs exist. And this could also be extended to the SDG and 2030 agenda programs. What has the State Party taken into consideration in ensuring that there is a disability perspective into all designs of corporations? And in monitoring, what processes are there, including accountability for assessing the impact of international programmes, projects and policies? Since 2019, under the Liberia American Program on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, can you confirm the extent to which OPD, Organizations of Persons with Disabilities, been involved? Then may I take the last one, national implementation. We had the same issue at the 2016 recommendation, and we seem not to find the response after today. So we still would want to know what steps has the State party taken to formally designate or establish an independent monitoring mechanism so that we can get full compliance with Article 33? What legislative amendments, resources and independence is in place? And finally, how is the State party systematically ensuring close consultation and active involvement of organizations of persons with disabilities to ensure effective implementation, monitoring of the Convention. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Excellency, you have the floor. I would like to kindly ask you again if you cannot provide right now You can submit in writing to the committee. Yes.

Head of.

Delegation, Sinadis, the National Disability Service will start the answers and we'll also hear from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The National Disability Service, thank you very much. With regard to data on people with disabilities, we can tell you that the way in which we measure disability has changed so that we have moved on to a biopsychosocial model based on the international classification of functioning from the World Health Organization. So disability is the result of the interaction between health conditions and the surrounding environment. So this means that we have moved away from the exclusively medical model. We have three additional sources of information for obtaining data about persons with disabilities. Firstly, we have the National Disability and Dependence Survey from 2022, providing detailed information about the levels of disability, functional dependency, environmental factors and structural gaps. This is based on the model disability survey from the World Health Organization. So it was on that basis that the National Disability Service drew up the third National Disability Survey. With regard to the 2024 census, there is a universal baseline which is internationally comparable by implementing the short set of questions from the Washington Group. The National Disability Register in turn, on which persons with disabilities are included immediately after they have gone through the classification certification system, includes the names of persons registered, the programs they're involved in and the benefits they receive. The census explains why and how we're intervening and the administrative registers enable us to have case by case management. It's on this basis that we can say that the prevalence of disability in Chile stands at 11.1% according to the 2024 census. This is severe cases and 17% according to the National Disability Independence Survey from 2022, which considers all the different intensities or degrees of disability with a 9.8% prevalence. prevalence of dependency. So this shows that we have a structural and growing phenomenon linked above all to ageing, regional inequalities and gender. Thank you very much. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will add.

Thank you. Very briefly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs enjoys international cooperation for implementation of human rights recommendations in general. We do this together with the Ministry of Human Rights through the Undersecretariat for Human Rights. We also cooperate globally on disability through the Chilean Agency for International Cooperation for Development. Since 2023 to date, the agency has informed us about two global cooperation projects in line with the 2030 agenda and the sustainable development goals. One ran from 2023 and 25 and a second project began in 2025 and is still being rolled out. We were working with Paraguay and Japan on this. The Ministry of Justice can add to this, please.

Thank you very much. Very briefly, once again, the independent mechanism under Article 33, paragraph two responded to a 2016 recommendation from this committee, and to date there has been no implementation yet. The advisory committee.

For the strengthening of the National Human Rights Institution recommended a draft bill changing its structure and Chile.

Decided to include in this bill to amend the NHRI to include this mechanism. So it will be providing support over and beyond the mechanism itself. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Now I would like to immediately turn to the follow round of cluster three until 12:50. Now we have the question from the all member of the committee, Miss Amalia Camio, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Now, it is to be regretted that we didn't have time for.

Follow-up questions on cluster two, so I'll ask them briefly anyway and perhaps we can get answers in writing.

I know.

That the health response line needs improvement because users require internet access on mobile devices and they don't always have have this. And also there are office hours from 8 to 5 p.m.

Can you tell us what you're doing to try and do away with these barriers?

My second question relates to a reform of law under the 18 sector and.

This is the question of requesting an integration program within school.

So schools where there is support provided from the state don't receive such requests for integration into mainstream schooling. Moving on to Article 25, there are more than 400 persons in different psychiatric hospitals, according to figures you've provided.

Is there a special programme to try and assist these persons to deinstitutionalise?

And finally, what measures are you taking to ensure that the hospital protocol on midwives, are not used in maternity wards to assist.

The removal of children from women if they're included on the disability register. And do you have any figures on ensuring that children of women with disabilities are returned to their mothers in cases where they are separated from them. Now, on article 16 of your constitution says that the right to vote is suspended in cases of removal of.

Legal capacity in cases of dementia. So I would like to know whether there are any plans to repeal this article.

Colleagues, when you give the question, you more shortly because we don't have enough time. Ms. Natalia Guala, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I have some specific questions on Articles 27 and 28. Now on 27 first, you've been telling us very clearly about, uh, how you implement the law to ensure the inclusion into the labor market for persons with disabilities in both the private and public sector. In the public sector, regulations for law 2042, in article 12 specifically says that in the public sector, there can be an exception to this 1% quota of employment on various grounds. One of these grounds is that the tasks that need to be completed cannot be completed by persons with disabilities. this is prejudice and an assumption about what persons with disabilities can and cannot do at the workplace. So my question is whether you're planning to amend this regulation to ensure it's pursuant to the convention. And then the National Disability Service, We'd like to know what justification is presented by these state bodies in these cases where they don't comply with the 1% quota and how many such cases there have been. Moving on to article 28, now following on from recommendations in 2025 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the state party of Chile is is told that there must be implementation of budgetary measures and ensuring the appropriate redistribution and progressive realisation of rights. This being so, our committee is concerned that the new budget law, which will be submitted to Congress at the end of September, includes recommendations to the National Disability Service to stop technical assistance programmes and to cease support for higher education students, and also relating to other accessibility measures in the public sector. So I would like to ask in relation to ministries that also have to submit their budgets for the period 2027 to 31, how are they going to be including a disability perspective? And how will all of this develop? What will the state do to make sure that technical assistance and support for students in higher education and all of the programs that are affected by these budgetary cuts. How are these going to be subsidized and amended given that there are these cuts to budgets? Thank you.

Mr. Hiroshi Tamon, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a short question. If you wouldn't mind, please clarify whether Article 25 requires television broadcasters to provide both sign language interpretation and subtitling. We have received information indicating that the current regulation allows broadcasters to choose between the two, either subtitling or sign language. However, deaf people who use sign language may not have equal access. when only subtitles are provided as the national sign language and the spoken language are distinct languages. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Mr. Christopher Nwanna, you have the floor.

Chair, distinguished delegation, I want to ask one or two questions in Article 29. So please, I would like the delegation to please give us the specific number of persons with disabilities occupying political and public life in Chile. That's number one. Number two, I would like to know if there's any quota reserved for persons with disabilities in Chile to ensure that in participation of politics. Thirdly, if there's any legislation informing the political parties to reserve seats or certain positions for persons with disabilities in Chile? These are the three questions I would like clarification. Remember, number one, the specific number of persons occupying political and public life in Chile. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Mr. Magino Lorenzo, you have the floor.

Thank you very much Madam Chair. Now information has reached us that there has been a cutback in certain services. So I would like to ask the following question. Are you planning any awareness raising campaign looking particularly at financial administration and red tape. What generally happens is that measures taken in moments of crisis end up disproportionately affecting persons with disabilities. So there really could be an awareness raising campaign also targeting those people who are in charge of the finance sector. We have also heard about Chile and international cooperation, and this must be strengthened to make sure that there are no rights violations when it comes to compliance with the convention. And We also have to ensure there is mainstreaming, that compliance in one sector leads to compliance with the convention in others too. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I in turn would like to greet and thank the diverse delegation from Chile. and we take good note of this diversity. I wanted to come back to Article 27 and access to employment particularly. Now, I think I've understood that subsidies, state subsidies for an assistant for persons for disability at the workplace really require quite heavy investment, which means that there is still segregation and protected areas for persons with disabilities. So what measures have been taken to ensure that persons with disabilities are not encouraged to remain in these segregated areas and that investment is moved to the employment market more generally. What is the State doing to ensure that persons with disabilities have greater access to the open labour market? And what is being planned to ensure there is a transition towards employment in open or mainstream markets, including direct state subsidies for employers in traditional sectors. so that they can amend and provide accommodations within their physical work environments.

You have the floor to respond to those questions until 15. So you have just six minutes.

Well, we will swiftly move on with the Ministry of Health.

Thank you, Madam Minister. I'll try and be brief. On the health response service, we do have to improve services and the use of technology and access to healthcare services. On deinstitutionalisation, we have moved forward in this area, and especially for persons with psychosocial disabilities. We are developing at the Ministry of Health an official register and on this basis we will be working on a deinstitutionalisation plan with a timetable looking forward to June 2027.

And there was another question on women that have allegedly been separated from their children.

I wish to point out that the disability of the mother by itself is not sufficient grounds for separating them from their children.

In fact, Chilean legislation lays down that the mother or father have the right to immediately be kept together with their child from birth. And we have to make sure that where necessary protection mechanisms are triggered.

Very briefly, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Thank you.

I will briefly refer to the question from Natalia Guala on the 2027 budget forecasts now. We wish to point out in the first instance that the budget drafting progress for 2027 is a long-winded process where there is no certainty of anything yet. There is an initial study carried out by the Treasury considering the different state programs that are planned. There is then a draft law which is submitted in September. There's then a legislative democratic Democratic debate on this planned budget law concluded on the 31st of December. So the budget proposals that the executive branch can put forward must be subjected to legislative debate and democratic oversight. Chile is aware of the non-regression and indeed the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights. But in the inter-American and universal system, there are provisions allowing for budgetary adjustments to be made when austerity measures are called for. And this means the state can comply with its obligations under the convention, obviously guided by the recommendations made by this committee or any other treaty body.

Thank you. and the National Disability Service to conclude. Thank you. In relation to what's been said about the integration in education program, I wanted to tell you that in February 2023, law 21544 was promulgated, the miscellaneous education law, as it is known. This makes it compulsory for educational programs include school inclusion programmes. It also says that there must be an equal footing between students with special needs and those that do not. Thank you.

And we will be providing answers in writing on those issues that we haven't had time to address.

Thank you so much. This concludes the substantive part of our constructive dialogue with Chile. Now we will proceed to the closing remarks. I first give the floor to the Instituto Nacional de Derechos Humanos, representative by Ms. Silvana Lausan for closing remarks. Ms. Silvana Lausan, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Distinguished Chair of the Committee and members of civil society and state authorities, Laws are essential, but they require regulations. We have to have financing and institutional capacity, coordination, and political will in order to properly implement them. In this case, we have to consider the beneficiaries as full citizens and the state has to guarantee their rights. What we've seen over the past two days shows that there is a quite clear diagnosis of the situation. There are shortfalls and areas of weakness that must be filled. So it's important for the committee to reiterate that they must adapt and respond to the question of legal capacity for persons with disabilities in those areas where there's no compliance with the convention. Also, we must remember that the compliance with the convention requires for persons with disabilities and the organisations representing them must be active in the putting in place and implementation of all of this. So their opinions must be considered at all levels of public policy. To conclude, given what has been said about the barriers that remain when it comes to certification of disability and the need to strengthen programmes for independent living, existing gaps in education and inclusion into the labour market, which have a disproportionate effect on women, we must ensure that there are no further budget cuts. Listening to the state and having a dialogue with other stakeholders is always important and as far as we are concerned as an NHRI we must continue to fulfill our mandate for the promotion protection of persons with disabilities. We want to ensure that they can live their lives on an equal footing with no discrimination compared to the rest of the population remembering that international human rights obligations as those ones that are enshrined in the convention are a minimum standard, not a maximum ceiling. And we believe that civil society must be fully involved in compliance with the convention as well. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Now I give the floor to the Defensoria de la Niinez Representative by Mr. Anwar KCA and Miss Daniela Quintania for closing remark. You have the floor.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair, distinguished committee members. Uh, the children's ombuds person, we welcome the opportunity to participate in this meeting, we recognize progress made by the state and we, uh, commend the willingness to address those areas, uh, um, where the problems remain. Chile has made significant progress, as we said at the beginning of this dialogue, but we believe we still face a challenge when it comes to this progress and the remaining implementation to be done to ensure the enjoyment of rights by children with disabilities. We believe that the state must address all of this with medium and long-term programming. You can't just respond to situations at the time. This requires institutional capacity building and the availability of sufficient resources looking at progression and not regression. This is particularly important if we look at the intersectional approach.

There are budgetary restrictions must be short-lived and these cuts don't affect.

All parts of the population in an equal manner.

And this is particularly true when there is intersectional considerations such as poverty or discrimination.

This is why we would respectfully ask the committee to focus on the rights of children with disabilities, particularly those that are in the care of the state. This dialogue has revealed a gap that must be compensated. We very much hope that concluding observations will address these challenges with specific recommendations and will yield to assessable results. We simply cannot scale back results. We have to continue strengthening public policy and build on the achievements made thus far.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. I now give the floor to head of the delegation of Chile, Ms. Maria Jesus Ulpu, through May, Minister of Social Development and Family for her closing remark. Excellency, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Today we come to the closing parts of this State parties review before this Committee. We have seen numerous delegations that have come here to Geneva, seeing representatives from the three branches of the State, and this speaks volumes about the importance that our country grants to this Committee and the Convention.

We have.

Responded with seriousness working within different institutions and with civil society aiming to address all of the observations that have been made in 2020 and making progress beyond this. As the Chilean government we conclude this whole process with the certainty that Chile is a state demonstrating that it's made progress in different sectors and that we're making real efforts to comply the requirements under the convention. But we also recognize the areas of weakness and we're aware that we must make progress in different areas. Chile is a country with a rule of law and as such we work on a basis of institutional realities established by the Constitution of the Republic and we have in the Constitution the right that persons are born free and equal in dignity and rights. So the person is more important than the state and the state must serve the person. This is why the constitution lays down as an essential right for all human persons equality before the law. And it also adds that men and women are equal before the law and neither the law nor any authority can establish any arbitrary difference between persons. All of this is mainstreamed throughout, uh, our state, then the legal setup of the state, and so each law and, uh, regulation which is promulgated must satisfy the requirements. This is why we have really taken to heart the goals of the Convention to promote, protect and ensure the full enjoyment and then on an equal footing the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons with disabilities and we must promote the respect of their inherent dignity. As a result of this, as we've heard, since the Convention entered into force in our country, we've made progress in putting in place new laws, in creating and implementing special institutional bodies and by applying public policies which mainstream the notion of disability within all state authorities, especially in health, education, employment, emergency and disasters, housing, public safety and access to justice and to sport. We can say with clarity that we know that we have pending challenges, but we have also made substantive progress that we cannot ignore, because there are democratic processes underlying this that show there is real commitment by the society and the state to the rights of persons with disabilities. Chile recognizes the rights of persons with disabilities and protects them through a number of legal provisions which have been mentioned in the past two days. On behalf of the national delegation, I wish to thank the President, the Chair of this Committee, the experts, the NHRI, the Children's Ombudsperson and civil society that are participating. And a particular vote of thanks to our delegation working remotely who have been following proceedings from Chile and started working 00 a.m. this morning in Chilean time. I conclude by restating the Government of Chile's commitment to continue to work hard for the full and effective enjoyment of the rights of all persons with disabilities in Chile.

I give the floor to Ms. Gathu Papome on behalf of the task force for a closing statement. Ms. Papome, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. On behalf of the COVETSI, Members of the task force and on my own behalf, I would like to thank Excellency Minister, Head of Delegation, and the entire team, also NHRI and Children's Ombudsman for the candid and open dialogue with the committee. We commend the state for the determination to work towards the achievement of implementation of the CRPD. However, there is a need to fast-track implementation of the Convention, particularly in ensuring the alignment of the national legislation with the Convention to reflect the human rights model of disability. Many critical areas of concern have been identified. We urge the State to pay attention. The need for the State to Put a system in place to closely consult and actively involve persons with disabilities through their positive organization to ensure meaningful participation, including those representing women and children in implementation of the processes cannot be overemphasized. Also, the absence of an independent mechanism cannot be understated. As a matter of urgency, we appeal to the State to address this. We are sure that with the goodwill expressed by the Head of Delegation just a moment ago, the State will proactively ensure implementation of the recommendations and the concluding observations. Before I end, I recognize the participation of representatives of organizations of persons with disabilities from Chile, both online and in person. We are grateful for your contributions. I once again thank you all. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

First of all, I special thanks to all translators to extend for my closing remark. On behalf of the committee, I sincerely thank honorable Minister Maria Jesus Ulf Rumei and the distinguished delegation of Chile for their constructive engagement with the committee during these two meetings. I also thanks to Miss Silvana Lausan and Mr. Aruani Casey and Daniela Quintania for their valuable contribution to this dialogue. Especially I highly thanks to the organization of persons with disability representative from Chile. And I thanks to the all member of the task force, Ms. Amalia Camilo, Ms. Natalia Guala, and Mr. Amajino Coporan, and Ms. Kathry Popome. for their preparing and work hard throughout the dialogue. I also thank all members of the committee for their active participation, as well as the secretarial interpreters, sign language interpreters, captioners, and all those who have supported this dialogue. The information provided during these two meetings, together with any additional written response, will assist the Committee in preparing its concluding observation on Chile. The concluding observation will be formally communicated to the State party through its permanent mission. This concludes the Committee's consideration of the periodic report of Chile. Thank you so much. This meeting is adjourned.