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Target Areas for Equal Participation
- Rule 5. Accessibility
- Rule 6. Education
- Rule 7. Employment
- Rule 8. Income maintenance and social security
- Rule 9. Family life and personal integrity
- Rule 10. Culture
- Rule 11. Recreation and sports
- Rule 12. Religion
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II. Target Areas for Equal Participation
States should recognize the overall importance of accessibility in the process of the
equalization of opportunities in all spheres of society. For persons with disabilities of
any kind, States should (a) introduce programmes of action to make the physical
environment accessible; and (b) undertake measures to provide access to information and
communication.
- Access to the physical environment
- States should initiate measures to remove the obstacles to participation in the physical
environment. Such measures should be to develop standards and guidelines and to consider
enacting legislation to ensure accessibility to various areas in society, such as housing,
buildings, public transport services and other means of transportation, streets and other
outdoor environments.
- States should ensure that architects, construction engineers and others who are
professionally involved in the design and construction of the physical environment have
access to adequate information on disability policy and measures to achieve accessibility.
- Accessibility requirements should be included in the design and construction of the
physical environment from the beginning of the designing process.
- Organizations of persons with disabilities should be consulted when standards and norms
for accessibility are being developed. They should also be involved locally from the
initial planning stage when public construction projects are being designed, thus ensuring
maximum accessibility.
- Access to information and communication
- Persons with disabilities and, where appropriate, their families and advocates should
have access to full information on diagnosis, rights and available services and
programmes, at all stages. Such information should be presented in forms accessible to
persons with disabilities.
- States should develop strategies to make information services and documentation
accessible for different groups of persons with disabilities. Braille, tape services,
large print and other appropriate technologies should be used to provide access to written
information and documentation for persons with visual impairments. Similarly, appropriate
technologies should be used to provide access to spoken information for persons with
auditory impairments or comprehension difficulties.
- Consideration should be given to the use of sign language in the education of deaf
children, in their families and communities. Sign language interpretation services should
also be provided to facilitate the communication between deaf persons and others.
- Consideration should also be given to the needs of people with other communication
disabilities.
- States should encourage the media, especially television, radio and newspapers, to make
their services accessible.
- States should ensure that new computerized information and service systems offered to
the general public are either made initially accessible or are adapted to be made
accessible to persons with disabilities.
- Organizations of persons with disabilities should be consulted when measures to make
information services accessible are being developed.
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States should recognize the principle of equal primary, secondary and tertiary
educational opportunities for children, youth and adults with disabilities, in integrated
settings. They should ensure that the education of persons with disabilities is an
integral part of the educational system.
- General educational authorities are responsible for the education of persons with
disabilities in integrated settings. Education for persons with disabilities should form
an integral part of national educational planning, curriculum development and school
organization.
- Education in mainstream schools presupposes the provision of interpreter and other
appropriate support services. Adequate accessibility and support services, designed to
meet the needs of persons with different disabilities, should be provided.
- Parent groups and organizations of persons with disabilities should be involved in the
education process at all levels.
- In States where education is compulsory it should be provided to girls and boys with all
kinds and all levels of disabilities, including the most severe.
- Special attention should be given in the following areas:
- Very young children with disabilities;
- Pre-school children with disabilities;
- Adults with disabilities, particularly women.
- To accommodate educational provisions for persons with disabilities in the mainstream,
States should:
- Have a clearly stated policy, understood and accepted at the school level and by the
wider community;
- Allow for curriculum flexibility, addition and adaptation;
- Provide for quality materials, ongoing teacher training and support teachers.
- Integrated education and community-based programmes should be seen as complementary
approaches in providing cost-effective education and training for persons with
disabilities. National community-based programmes should encourage communities to use and
develop their resources to provide local education to persons with disabilities.
- In situations where the general school system does not yet adequately meet the needs of
all persons with disabilities, special education may be considered. It should be aimed at
preparing students for education in the general school system. The quality of such
education should reflect the same standards and ambitions as general education and should
be closely linked to it. At a minimum, students with disabilities should be afforded the
same portion of educational resources as students without disabilities. States should aim
for the gradual integration of special education services into mainstream education. It is
acknowledged that in some instances special education may currently be considered to be
the most appropriate form of education for some students with disabilities.
- Owing to the particular communication needs of deaf and deaf/blind persons, their
education may be more suitably provided in schools for such persons or special classes and
units in mainstream schools. At the initial stage, in particular, special attention needs
to be focused on culturally sensitive instruction that will result in effective
communication skills and maximum independence for people who are deaf or deaf/blind.
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States should recognize the principle that persons with disabilities must be empowered
to exercise their human rights, particularly in the field of employment. In both rural and
urban areas they must have equal opportunities for productive and gainful employment in
the labour market.
- Laws and regulations in the employment field must not discriminate against persons with
disabilities and must not raise obstacles to their employment.
- States should actively support the integration of persons with disabilities into open
employment. This active support could occur through a variety of measures, such as
vocational training, incentive-oriented quota schemes, reserved or designated employment,
loans or grants for small business, exclusive contracts or priority production rights, tax
concessions, contract compliance or other technical or financial assistance to enterprises
employing workers with disabilities. States should also encourage employers to make
reasonable adjustments to accommodate persons with disabilities.
- States' action programmes should include:
- Measures to design and adapt workplaces and work premises in such a way that they become
accessible to persons with different disabilities;
- Support for the use of new technologies and the development and production of assistive
devices, tools and equipment and measures to facilitate access to such devices and
equipment for persons with disabilities to enable them to gain and maintain employment;
- Provision of appropriate training and placement and ongoing support such as personal
assistance and interpreter services.
- States should initiate and support public awareness-raising campaigns designed to
overcome negative attitudes and prejudices concerning workers with disabilities.
- In their capacity as employers, States should create favourable conditions for the
employment of persons with disabilities in the public sector.
- States, workers' organizations and employers should cooperate to ensure equitable
recruitment and promotion policies, employment conditions, rates of pay, measures to
improve the work environment in order to prevent injuries and impairments and measures for
the rehabilitation of employees who have sustained employment-related injuries.
- The aim should always be for persons with disabilities to obtain employment in the open
labour market. For persons with disabilities whose needs cannot be met in open employment,
small units of sheltered or supported employment may be an alternative. It is important
that the quality of such programmes be assessed in terms of their relevance and
sufficiency in providing opportunities for persons with disabilities to gain employment in
the labour market.
- Measures should be taken to include persons with disabilities in training and employment
programmes in the private and informal sectors.
- States, workers' organizations and employers should cooperate with organizations of
persons with disabilities concerning all measures to create training and employment
opportunities, including flexible hours, part-time work, job-sharing, self-employment and
attendant care for persons with disabilities.
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States are responsible for the provision of social security and income maintenance for
persons with disabilities.
- States should ensure the provision of adequate income support to persons with
disabilities who, owing to disability or disability-related factors, have temporarily lost
or received a reduction in their income or have been denied employment opportunities.
States should ensure that the provision of support takes into account the costs frequently
incurred by persons with disabilities and their families as a result of the disability.
- In countries where social security, social insurance or other social welfare schemes
exist or are being developed for the general population, States should ensure that such
systems do not exclude or discriminate against persons with disabilities.
- States should also ensure the provision of income support and social security protection
to individuals who undertake the care of a person with a disability.
- Social security systems should include incentives to restore the income-earning capacity
of persons with disabilities. Such systems should provide or contribute to the
organization, development and financing of vocational training. They should also assist
with placement services.
- Social security programmes should also provide incentives for persons with disabilities
to seek employment in order to establish or re-establish their income-earning capacity.
- Income support should be maintained as long as the disabling conditions remain in a
manner that does not discourage persons with disabilities from seeking employment. It
should only be reduced or terminated when persons with disabilities achieve adequate and
secure income.
- States, in countries where social security is to a large extent provided by the private
sector, should encourage local communities, welfare organizations and families to develop
self-help measures and incentives for employment or employment-related activities for
persons with disabilities.
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States should promote the full participation of persons with disabilities in family
life. They should promote their right to personal integrity and ensure that laws do not
discriminate against persons with disabilities with respect to sexual relationships,
marriage and parenthood.
- Persons with disabilities should be enabled to live with their families. States should
encourage the inclusion in family counselling of appropriate modules regarding disability
and its effects on family life. Respite-care and attendant-care services should be made
available to families which include a person with disabilities. States should remove all
unnecessary obstacles to persons who want to foster or adopt a child or adult with
disabilities.
- Persons with disabilities must not be denied the opportunity to experience their
sexuality, have sexual relationships and experience parenthood. Taking into account that
persons with disabilities may experience difficulties in getting married and setting up a
family, States should encourage the availability of appropriate counselling. Persons with
disabilities must have the same access as others to family-planning methods, as well as to
information in accessible form on the sexual functioning of their bodies.
- States should promote measures to change negative attitudes towards marriage, sexuality
and parenthood of persons with disabilities, especially of girls and women with
disabilities, which still prevail in society. The media should be encouraged to play an
important role in removing such negative attitudes.
- Persons with disabilities and their families need to be fully informed about taking
precautions against sexual and other forms of abuse. Persons with disabilities are
particularly vulnerable to abuse in the family, community or institutions and need to be
educated on how to avoid the occurrence of abuse, recognize when abuse has occurred and
report on such acts.
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States will ensure that persons with disabilities are integrated into and can
participate in cultural activities on an equal basis.
- States should ensure that persons with disabilities have the opportunity to utilize
their creative, artistic and intellectual potential, not only for their own benefit, but
also for the enrichment of their community, be they in urban or rural areas. Examples of
such activities are dance, music, literature, theatre, plastic arts, painting and
sculpture. Particularly in developing countries, emphasis should be placed on traditional
and contemporary art forms, such as puppetry, recitation and story-telling.
- States should promote the accessibility to and availability of places for cultural
performances and services, such as theatres, museums, cinemas and libraries, to persons
with disabilities.
- States should initiate the development and use of special technical arrangements to make
literature, films and theatre accessible to persons with disabilities.
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States will take measures to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal
opportunities for recreation and sports.
- States should initiate measures to make places for recreation and sports, hotels,
beaches, sports arenas, gym halls, etc., accessible to persons with disabilities. Such
measures should encompass support for staff in recreation and sports programmes, including
projects to develop methods of accessibility, and participation, information and training
programmes.
- Tourist authorities, travel agencies, hotels, voluntary organizations and others
involved in organizing recreational activities or travel opportunities should offer their
services to all, taking into account the special needs of persons with disabilities.
Suitable training should be provided to assist that process.
- Sports organizations should be encouraged to develop opportunities for participation by
persons with disabilities in sports activities. In some cases, accessibility measures
could be enough to open up opportunities for participation. In other cases, special
arrangements or special games would be needed. States should support the participation of
persons with disabilities in national and international events.
- Persons with disabilities participating in sports activities should have access to
instruction and training of the same quality as other participants.
- Organizers of sports and recreation should consult with organizations of persons with
disabilities when developing their services for persons with disabilities.
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States will encourage measures for equal participation by persons with disabilities in
the religious life of their communities.
- States should encourage, in consultation with religious authorities, measures to
eliminate discrimination and make religious activities accessible to persons with
disabilities.
- States should encourage the distribution of information on disability matters to
religious institutions and organizations. States should also encourage religious
authorities to include information on disability policies in the training for religious
professions, as well as in religious education programmes.
- They should also encourage the accessibility of religious literature to persons with
sensory impairments.
- States and/or religious organizations should consult with organizations of persons with
disabilities when developing measures for equal participation in religious activities.
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