Recalling its resolutions 37/52 of 3 December 1982, by which it adopted the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons,¹ and 49/153 of 23 December 1994 and 50/144 of 21 December 1995, in which it called upon Governments, when implementing the World Programme of Action, to take into account the elements suggested in the Long-term Strategy to Implement the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons to the Year 2000 and Beyond,²

Recalling also its resolution 48/96 of 20 December 1993, by which it adopted the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities,

Welcoming the inclusion of measures to address questions of disability in the programmes, plans and platforms for action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights, held at Vienna from 14 to 25 June 1993,³ the International Conference on Population and Development,⁴ the World Summit for Social Development,⁵ the Fourth World Conference on Women⁶ and the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), held at Istanbul, Turkey, from 3 to 14 June 1996,⁷

Mindful of the need to adopt and implement effective public policies and programmes to promote the rights of persons with disabilities,

Convinced that the end of the century provides an opportunity for considering which issues to address in order to implement fully the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities,

Welcoming initiatives to hold international conferences related to disabled persons, in particular the holding of the Fifth World Assembly of Disabled Peoples' International at Mexico City in December 1998, on the theme "Towards an inclusive twenty-first century",

Recognizing the importance of timely and reliable data on disability for disability-sensitive policies, programme planning and evaluation and the need for further development of practical statistical methodology for data collection and compilation on populations with disabilities,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the third quinquennial review and appraisal of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons,⁸ and welcomes the conclusions and recommendations contained therein;

2. Takes note of Economic and Social Council resolutions 1997/19 of 21 July 1997 on equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities and 1997/20 of 21 July 1997 on children with disabilities;

3. Notes with appreciation the valuable work undertaken by the Special Rapporteur for monitoring the implementation of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities of the Commission for Social Development, and welcomes the second round of monitoring the implementation of the Standard Rules the cooperation of the Special Rapporteur with the Commission on Human Rights, and especially with the Committee on the Rights of the Child;

4. Encourages Governments and the non-governmental community to examine key social and economic policy issues related to the equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities, in particular, (a) accessibility, (b) social services and social safety nets and (c) employment and sustainable livelihoods;

5. Urges Governments to cooperate with the Statistics Division of the Secretariat in the continued development of global statistics and indicators, and encourages them to avail themselves of the technical assistance of the Division, as needed;

6. Urges relevant bodies and organizations of the United Nations system, including relevant treaty bodies, such as the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the regional commissions and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and institutions, to work closely with the United Nations in the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities by sharing experiences and findings on disability issues;

7. Decides that the next quinquennial review and appraisal of the World Programme of Action, in 2002, shall consider the issues mentioned in paragraph 4 above;

8. Invites Governments, concerned non-governmental organizations and the private sector to continue to support the United Nations Voluntary Fund on Disability, with a view to providing additional support to the implementation of the Standard Rules, including further assistance in national capacity-building and support for the work of the Special Rapporteur;

9. Requests the Secretary-General to develop a plan to increase the accessibility of the United Nations and its offices and meetings to persons with disabilities;

10. Also requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session, through the Commission for Social Development at its thirty-seventh session, a report on the implementation of the present resolution.