May 31 to June 6 is National AccessAbility Week. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of persons with disabilities and recognize work being done to remove barriers to their full participation.
This year the CCRC is highlighting actions Canada needs to take to fulfill the rights of children with disabilities under two different Conventions. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities include specific provisions relating to children with disabilities. Both have been ratified by Canada. Implementation of both remains weak. Canada is under review for implementation of both of them.
Children with Disabilities: Time for Action, a Fact Sheet issued during this week, highlights essential steps to ensure that children with disabilities can realize their rights under both Conventions. A co-ordinated approach to implementation and to monitoring progress on these actions would also make our federal system of governance in Canada work better for children across the country. The Fact Sheet was prepared by a team of researchers at McGill University under the leadership of Dr. Keiko Shakiko Thomas, Canada Research Chair in Childhood Disability.
Given Covid-19, the fact sheet also includes analysis of impacts for children with disabilities and recommendations for inclusion in Canada’s response to the pandemic.
The government website for National AccessAbility Week states: “We all benefit from a society and an economy without barriers to inclusion.” The CCRC agrees that we all benefit when the rights of children with disabilities are respected and implemented through action by all levels of government, as outlined in this Fact Sheet.