OHCHR; Support to the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

Rights of persons with disabilities are a priority area within the Finnish human rights and development policies. Finland supports the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities. Her duties include the enhancement and advocacy work related to disability issues, particularly concerning persons with disabilities that live in the developing countries. With the help of the project disability issues are also strengthened in the post 2015 development agenda. An important goal of the project is also to increase the participation of persons with disabilities into national and international processes that concern their rights. Finland has supported the work of the Special Rapporteur through UN DESA before, but in 2014 the mandate was moved to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Special Rapporteur has played an important role in the advancement of the rights of persons with disabilities, particularly in developing countries. Finland's support has been appreciated by the disability rights actors globally. The amount of support is proposed to remain the same in 2015 (200.000 EUR) as in previous years.