Article 30 - Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport
Background Documents | Article 30 Background
Seventh Session | Sixth Session | Fourth Session | Third Session
Working Group | References
Working Group
Draft Article
24
PARTICIPATION IN CULTURAL LIFE, RECREATION, LEISURE AND SPORT108
• States Parties recognise the right of all persons with disabilities to take
part in cultural life, and shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that
persons with disabilities:
a. have the opportunity to develop and utilise their creative, artistic and
intellectual potential, not only for their own benefit, but also for the enrichment
of their community;
b. enjoy access to literature and other cultural materials in all accessible
formats, including in electronic text, sign language and Braille, and in audio
and multi-media formats;
c. enjoy access to television programmes, films, theatre, and other cultural
activities, in all accessible formats, including captioning and sign language;
d. enjoy access to places for cultural performances or services, such as theatres,
museums, cinemas, libraries and the hospitality industry, and, as far as possible,
enjoy access to monuments and sites of national cultural importance;
• States Parties shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that laws protecting
intellectual property rights do not constitute an unreasonable or discriminatory
barrier to access by persons with disabilities to cultural materials, while
respecting the provisions of international law.
• Persons who are deaf shall be entitled, on an equal basis with others, to
recognition and support of their specific cultural and linguistic identity.109
• States Parties recognise the right of persons with disabilities, on an equal
basis with others,110 to participate in
recreational, leisure and sporting activities and shall take appropriate measures
to:
a. encourage and promote the participation, to the fullest extent possible,
of persons with disabilities in mainstream sporting activities at regional,
national and international levels;111
b. ensure that persons with disabilities have an opportunity to organise and
participate in sporting activities and to receive the same instruction, training
and resources in support that is available to other participants;
c. ensure that persons with disabilities have access to sporting and recreational
venues, and that children with disabilities have equal access to participating
in sporting activities with the education system;
d. ensure that persons with disabilities have access to services from those
involved in the organisation of recreational, leisure and sporting activities.
Footnotes:
108: The Ad Hoc Committee may wish to consider
whether and how the concept of accessibility could be expanded under this draft
Article.
109: The Ad Hoc Committee may wish to consider
whether this provision would be more appropriately placed under another draft
article.
110: Some members of the Working Group
considered that "on an equal basis with others" should be deleted
from this paragraph, and that sub-paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) should instead
include an obligation on States Parties to remove discriminatory barriers, both
environmental and societal, to the enjoyment of these rights. Other members
expressed the view that "on an equal basis with others" should be
retained, because sporting, recreational and leisure organisations and facilities
wewre often within the private sector. The Ad Hoc Committee may wish to consider
this issue further.
111: Some members of the Working Group
emphasised the importance of mainstreaming sporting activities for persons with
disabilities. Others indicated that this obligation would need to be balanced
with the promotion of separate sporting activities and organisations that are
tailored to the needs and abilities of persons with disabilities, as well as
disability specific sports that may not be included in mainstream sporting events.
The Ad Hoc Committee may wish to consider how best to incorporate these views.