HRC25 - Annual Interactive Debate on the Rights of Persons with disabilities

Document

25th session of the Human Rights Council

ANNUAL INTERACTIVE DEBATE ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Wednesday, 19 March 2014, 12:00 to 15:00, Room XX; Palais des Nations, Geneva

DRAFT 27 January 2014

 

Background

The right to education is a universal right recognized by international human rights law and, as such, applies to all persons, including persons with disabilities. Several international instruments, inter alia, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, affirm the core principles of universality and non-discrimination in the enjoyment of the right to education.

Notwithstanding, persons with disabilities face various forms of discrimination in educational settings. The most serious barriers to participation in schools arise from prejudice and misconceptions that lead to deliberate exclusion and segregation. Students with disabilities are stigmatized as people who cannot be educated in regular schools, or at all. This results in education systems in which persons with disabilities are denied the right to education as enshrined in article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.