No Go Britain: what the UN can do for you

According to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 87,000 UK citizens visited Jordan last year. The first thing I wondered when I discovered this was how many of those people were disabled and precisely how many are wheelchair users. I suspected the number to be quite small, which always makes me a little apprehensive – however last week I got added to the statistics.

Despite its charms such as Petra and the Dead Sea, Jordan has never been high on my go to list predominately because of my perception of access. However, last month I received an invitation I couldn’t refuse – an opportunity to do some work on how to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRDP).

Regardless of what country you’re living in, as a disabled person you experience barriers. What makes difference to your success in the world as a disabled person is how you are supported and the attitude that people have to disabled.

Regardless of what country you’re living in, as a disabled person you experience barriers.

In the UK we have a lot of disability rights legislation and so people often assume that there aren’t many barriers still facing disabled people in the UK. However, No Go Britain and government statistics tell a different story.

As standard. I expect my journeys to take a minimum of half an hour extra due to needing access and assistance. Government statistics suggest that disabled people are less likely to have qualifications, are less likely to be in employment and if we do get jobs, disabled people are likely to earn less.

When I’m out with my non-disabled friends, they are often surprised at the lack of access to things like pubs, restaurants and shops in London. My friends normally get indignant on my behalf and start asking: “Isn’t there a law about access?”

To which the answer is: “Yes, we have the law to protect and support disabled people and their access to goods and services, but in order to get X to improve its access or service through the law, I would have to take them to court.”

I don’t know how many of you who’ve tried to take something to court recently but it is a long, time consuming and expensive process that most disabled people just can’t afford.

This example is to highlights how laws in themselves are not the end of the story. It’s how you implement those laws that makes a difference.

In the UK, It is easy to think of international treaties as nice things to sign but with little impact on our day-to-day lives. However, I think the United Nations convention on the rights of persons with disabilities has massive potential for realising disabled people’s rights, regardless of their country.

We may have laws in the UK which prevent discrimination against disabled people, but we do get extra protection from having ratified the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. The convention covers all areas of life, and took years to compose.

For a country like the UK, which already has disability laws in place, the convention offers a protection to disabled people by making the government accountable to a higher power when it does things which decrease or challenge disabled people’s rights. For other countries, signing and ratifying the convention can be the start of the journey of developing national laws to promote equality amongst disabled and non-disabled people.

What can be done?

I have spent the last five days taking part in a multinational meeting looking at how to implement the convention, and improve the involvement of disabled people in decision-making.

The meeting was the start of a project called IDEAS – Inclusive Decisions for Equal and Accountable Society – which has been running for three years by the British Council through funding from the European Commission.

The meeting brought together representatives from the UK, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Jordan, Lebanon and Ukraine. The delegations included state officials, disabled people, civil society organisations and media representatives working together to look at how to make an impact on disabled people’s lives using the convention.

Each country involved had strengths and weaknesses in their approach to disability and the plans reflected this starkly.

Despite coming from very different places and each country having very different challenges, from the outset of the meeting it was clear that it doesn’t matter which country you are from – disabled people experience similar barriers in accessing services, education, employment and a voice in decision-making. The meeting showed all participants how much can be learnt by sharing experiences and solutions.

The main purpose of the meeting was for the six countries to present their action plans based on the convention. This was the point that differences in experience and existing systems became apparent. Each country involved had strengths and weaknesses in their approach to disability and the plans reflected this starkly. Some participants were using their plans to support the development of legislation to aid disabled people while others were focused on practical inventions like ramps.

While many countries have the convention, what that means in reality is going to vary massively. The convention needs to be taken seriously by all and it has the potential to impact so many.

The challenge remains how to make the most of it.