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Article 31 [Statistics and Data Collection]

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The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

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Abstract

Article 31 may not be the most discussed provision in the available literature on the CRPD, but it has the potential of being one of the provisions that can have the most impact. One explanation for the ‘low profile’ of this provision is that it has a more instrumental rather than substantive character. Hence, at the negotiation sessions leading to adoption of the CRPD, the Israel Human Rights Centre for People with Disabilities, commenting on the proposal of a provision on data and statistics in the CRPD, observed that collection of data was ‘a tool in the promotion of rights, not a right in itself.’ For this, some have argued that Article 31 did not belong in a human rights treaty.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The third session of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities—Comments, proposals and amendments submitted electronically. http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahcstata31tscomments.htm. Accessed February 13, 2015. The fact that Article 31 was not seen as a right in itself but only as a tool for the promotion of rights fits very well with the general theme during the drafting process of the CRPD. Thus, the CRPD was not intended to create new human rights but only to secure the enjoyment of all human rights by persons with disabilities on an equal footing with others, Arnardóttir (2009), p. 44. Given that the aim is the principle of equality, the CRPD has nevertheless created new rights, Arnardóttir (2009), p. 44; Mégret (2008), p. 494, Kayess and French (2008), p. 32.

  2. 2.

    See Report of the third session of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities. A/AC.265/2004/5.

  3. 3.

    Adopted by the UNGA, forty-eighth session, resolution 48/96, annex, December 20, 1993.

  4. 4.

    See Implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons: towards a society for all in the twenty-first century, A/RES/58/132.

  5. 5.

    See, e.g., CERD Committee, General Recommendation no. 24 (Information on the demographic composition of the population); CEDAW Committee, General Recommendation no. 9 (Statistical data concerning the situation of women); CRC Committee, General Comment No. 5 (General measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. All contained in Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9 (Vol. II); CEDAW/CRC Joint general recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/general comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on harmful practices. CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18.

  6. 6.

    Report of the third session of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities. A/AC.265/2004/5.

  7. 7.

    See, e.g., The World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons, as adopted by the UNGA, A/RES/37/52; The Standard Rules on Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, as adopted by the UNGA, A/RES/48/96.

  8. 8.

    Traustadóttir (2009), p. 6.

  9. 9.

    Kallehauge (2007), p. 337.

  10. 10.

    Kayess and French (2008), p. 12.

  11. 11.

    See Report on the 2013 Work Forum on the Implementation of the UN CRPD in the EU. Overview of the discussions that took place at the fourth annual Work Forum on the implementation of the CRPD organized by the European Commission in Brussels on 24 and 25 October 2013. http://ec.europa.eu/justice/events/work-forum-disabilities-2014/files/work_forum_2013_report_en.pdf. Accessed February 19, 2015.

  12. 12.

    Outcome document of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the realization of the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities: the way forward, a disability-inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond. A/68/L.1.

  13. 13.

    A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies Through Sustainable Development—The Report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (2013). http://www.un.org/sg/management/pdf/HLP_P2015_Report.pdf. Accessed February 19, 2015.

  14. 14.

    United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Strategic Action towards Inclusive Development: Disability, Human Rights and Statistics, United Nations (2010). http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/reports/strategic_action_2010.doc. Accessed February 19, 2015.

  15. 15.

    Guidelines on treaty-specific document to be submitted by States Parties under article 35, paragraph 1, of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD/C/2/3.

  16. 16.

    Ibid., section E.

  17. 17.

    See, e.g., CRPD Committee, Concluding Observations on the initial report of Peru, CRPD/C/PER/CO/1, para. 47.

  18. 18.

    See e.g. CRPD Committee, Concluding Observations on the initial report of Paraguay, CRPD/C/PRY/CO/1, para. 72; Guidelines on treaty-specific document to be submitted by States Parties under article 35, paragraph 1, of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, section E. CRPD/C/2/3.

  19. 19.

    See CRPD Committee, Concluding Observations on the initial report of Argentina, CRPD/C/ARG/CO/1, para. 50; Guidelines on treaty-specific document to be submitted by States Parties under article 35, paragraph 1, of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, cit., section A.3.2(h).

  20. 20.

    Guidelines on treaty-specific document to be submitted by States Parties under article 35, paragraph 1, of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, cit., section A.3.2(h).

  21. 21.

    Ibid., section B.5.

  22. 22.

    See also Flynn (2011), pp. 273–274.

  23. 23.

    See Washington Group on Disability Statistics Statement of rationale for the Washington Group general measure on disability. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/washington_group/Rationale.pdf. Accessed February 24, 2015.

  24. 24.

    See Statistical Commission’s Report on the forty-fifth session (March 4–7, 2014), decision 45/109. E/2014/24-E/CN.3/2014/35.

  25. 25.

    See Report of the third session of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, note 23. A/AC.265/2004/5.

  26. 26.

    Briefing note on the collection and dissemination of disability statistics, United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, Demographic and Social Statistics Branch, 30 August 2004. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sconcerns/disability/BriefingNote.pdf. Accessed February 24, 2015.

  27. 27.

    The UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics as adopted by the Statistical Commission at its forty-fourth session in 2013. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/dnss/gp/FP-New-E.pdf. Accessed February 24, 2015.

  28. 28.

    Ibid., Principle 6.

  29. 29.

    The UN Principles Governing International Statistical Activities as adopted by the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities at the 23rd Session on March 3, 2014. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/statorg/Principles_stat_activities/principles_stat_activities.pdf. Accessed February 24, 2015.

  30. 30.

    Ibid., Principle 6.

  31. 31.

    Ibid., Principle 7.

  32. 32.

    OHCHR (2012), p. III.

  33. 33.

    See, e.g., Briefing note on the collection and dissemination of disability statistics, United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, Demographic and Social Statistics Branch, 30 August 2004. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sconcerns/disability/BriefingNote.pdf. Accessed February 24, 2015; Guidelines on treaty-specific document to be submitted by States Parties under article 35, paragraph 1, of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, cit.; Stein and Lord (2010).

  34. 34.

    Lawson and Priestley (2013), p. 739, although they talk about statistics as a monitoring tool in general and not regarding the CRPD specifically.

  35. 35.

    CRPD Committee, Concluding Observations on the initial report of the Republic of Korea, CRPD/C/KOR/CO/1, para. 60; Concluding Observations on the initial report of China, CRPD/C/CHN/CO/1, para. 24.

  36. 36.

    OHCHR (2012), p. III; Landman (2010), p. 3.

  37. 37.

    Stein and Lord (2010), p. 726.

  38. 38.

    See, e.g., OHCHR (2012); CRC Committee, General Comment No. 5 (2003) on General measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (arts. 4, 42 and 44, para. 6). CRC/GC/2003/5; Landman (2004), pp. 909–910; Andreassen and Sano (2007), pp. 275–277; Welling (2008), p. 940; Flynn (2011), p. 273; de Beco (2013), p. 380; Lawson and Priestley (2013), p. 740.

  39. 39.

    de Beco (2008), pp. 23–25.

  40. 40.

    See, e.g., Broderick (2014); Report on the 2013 Work Forum on the Implementation of the UN CRPD in the EU. Overview of the discussions that took place at the fourth annual Work Forum on the implementation of the CRPD organized by the European Commission in Brussels on 24 and 25 October 2013. http://ec.europa.eu/justice/events/work-forum-disabilities-2014/files/work_forum_2013_report_en.pdf. Accessed February 19, 2015.

  41. 41.

    See, e.g., Note by the Secretariat: Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Seventh session, matters related to the implementation of the Convention: round table 2 National implementation and monitoring, CRPD/CSP/2014/3, para. 38; CRPD Committee, Concluding Observations on the initial report of Tunisia, CRPD/C/TUN/CO/1, para 37; Concluding Observations on the initial report of Spain, CRPD/C/ESP/CO/1, para. 50.

  42. 42.

    See WHO and The World Bank (2011), p. 45.

  43. 43.

    OHCHR (2012).

  44. 44.

    Ibid., p. 16.

  45. 45.

    See ibid., p. 33.

  46. 46.

    See http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/citygroup/washington.htm. Accessed February 24, 2015. See also references above in Sect. 2.1. Together with UNICEF, the WG is now in the process of producing a similar set of disability measures intended for children with disabilities.

  47. 47.

    See http://www.who.int/disabilities/data/mds/en/. Accessed February 19, 2015.

  48. 48.

    See http://zeroproject.org/. Accessed February 24, 2015.

  49. 49.

    See http://www.unescapsdd.org/publications/incheon-strategy. Accessed February 22, 2015.

  50. 50.

    See http://fra.europa.eu/en/publications-and-resources/data-and-maps/comparative-data/political-participation. Accessed February 19, 2015.

  51. 51.

    See http://fra.europa.eu/en/project/2014/rights-persons-disabilities-right-independent-living. Accessed February 22, 2015. Prior to these initiatives, a qualitative and quantitative rights-based set of comparative indicators, consistent with the CRPD, was proposed by a working group, including, among others, representatives of ANED, Disabled People’s International, the WHO, and Eurostat. These were framed as ‘Indicators of Disability Equality in Europe’ (IDEE).

  52. 52.

    http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/our-work/key-projects/equality-measurement-framework. Accessed February 24, 2015.

  53. 53.

    See http://www.humanrights.dk/disability. Accessed February 22, 2015.

  54. 54.

    A quite unique and comprehensive project that works with comparative indicators as well is the ‘Disability Online Tool of the Commission’ (DOTCOM) first published in May 2012 (http://www.disability-europe.net/dotcom. Accessed August 19, 2015). DOTCOM gives an unprecedented level of access to knowledge about disability policies in European countries. The database contains descriptive data on relevant laws, policies, and programs, for each country and for the EU, against 44 items selected as relevant to the implementation of the CRPD. DOTCOM is nevertheless more a monitoring tool for the European Disability Strategy than for the CRPD in its entirety. See also Lawson and Priestley (2013), pp. 750–752.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Equal Treatment, The Danish Institute for Human Rights, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Mads Pedersen

  2. Højesteret, Prins Jørgens Gård 13, Copenhagen K, 1218, Denmark

    Mads Pedersen

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  1. Institute for International Legal Studies, National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy

    Valentina Della Fina

  2. Institute for International Legal Studies, National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy

    Rachele Cera

  3. Institute for International Legal Studies, National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy

    Giuseppe Palmisano

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Pedersen, M. (2017). Article 31 [Statistics and Data Collection]. In: Della Fina, V., Cera, R., Palmisano, G. (eds) The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43790-3_35

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