The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted by the General Assembly by its resolution 61/106 of 13 December 2006. It came into force on 3 May 2008 upon the 20th ratification. Article 40 of the Convention stipulates that “The States Parties shall meet regularly in a Conference of States Parties in order to consider any matter with regard to the implementation of the present Convention.” Since 2008, 14 sessions of the Conference of States Parties have been held at United Nations Headquarters, New York.
The 15th session of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD (COSP15) will be scheduled to take place at the United Nations Headquarters, New York, from 14 to 16 June 2022 , during which an election of nine members of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with disabilities will be conducted.
The COSP15 will be held this year in in-person format, with its opening meetings in the General Assembly Hall and meetings on 15th and 16th of June will be in Conference Room 4.
All meetings will be streamed LIVE on UN Web TV at: https://media.un.org.
Bureau
- President: Finland (Western European and Others Group)
- Vice-Presidents: Republic of Iraq (Asia-Pacific Group), Poland (Eastern European Group), Guatemala (Latin American and Caribbean Group), and Zambia ( African Group).
Theme and sub-themes of the Conference
Overarching theme: Building disability-inclusive and participatory societies in the COVID context and beyond
Sub theme 1: Innovation and technology advancing disability rights
Sub theme 2: Economic empowerment and entrepreneurship of persons with disabilities
Sub theme 3: Participation of persons with disabilities in climate action, disaster risk reduction and resilience against natural disasters
Informal Briefing – in person
Informal briefing (20 May 2022, in-person format, Conference Room 4, UNHQ in New York, 11am-12pm, New York time) to States Parties and stakeholders, co-organized by the Permanent Mission of Finland, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA). Learn more about the briefing.
Watch it here at: https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1t/k1tuu7acsh
Press Conference
The COSP15 Press Conference will take place on 14 June 2022 from 11:00am to 12pm. The President of the COSP15 H.E. Mr. Jukka Salovaara, Permanent State Secretary of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and President of the Conference, Finland will be doing the briefing in-person from the press room with Mr. Jose Viera, International Disability Alliance (IDA) Advocacy Director with the presence of IDA’s Chair of the Board, Mr. Yannis Vardakastanis. The briefing will be moderated by Ms. Florencia Soto Nino-Martinez from EOSG.
Provisional agenda and program
- Draft Programme (as of 15 June 2022)
- Draft Programme in an Easy Read Format (as of 7 June 2022)
- Provisional Agenda English | Français | Español | Русский | عربي | 汉语
Documents
Innovation and technology advancing disability rights
English | Français | Español | Русский | عربي | 汉语
Easy Read Format
Economic empowerment and entrepreneurship of persons with disabilities English | Français | Español | Русский | عربي | 汉语
Easy Read Format
Participation of persons with disabilities in climate action, disaster risk reduction and resilience against natural disasters
English | Français | Español | Русский | عربي | 汉语
Easy Read Format
General Debate
General Debate will be organized and will begin on the first day of the conference. Inscription to speakers list will be open from 23 May at 10am, and close on 6 June at 6pm (New York time). The mandatory contents for the inscription includes the full name, representation level and official title of the inscribed speaker as well as the email address of the inscription submitter, must be provided.
The speaking limit for each statement will be 3 minutes which will be strictly enforced with the speaker’s microphone be cut off automatically. Individual reasonable accommodation will be granted for persons with disabilities and needs must to be clearly indicated in the inscription and communicated in advance.
All States Parties and Signatories to the CRPD are requested to inscribe their speaker through the e-DELEGATE/e-SPEAKERS portal link.
Registered Non-Governmental Organizations(NGOs), National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and United Nations entities, are requested to inscribe to the list, by submitting an online form, to register their speaker details with all requested information within the same timeframe, that is, before 6 June at 6 p.m ( New York time).
Guidance Note on the General Debate
Audio-Video Guidelines for Pre-Recorded Statements
Seating Charts
List of Speakers
- List of Speakers (General Debate) – as of 15 June
Format of the Meetings
The COSP15 will be held as an in-person meeting. Panelists are able to participate virtually and speakers can send pre-recorded videos for the General Debate (in line with the requirements contained in the pre-recorded audio-visual guidance and upload the video message to a designated online portal following the additional instructions provided via the automatic email confirming a submission of the inscription via the e-SPEAKER).
In the general debate and roundtable discussions, speakers from the audience are required to send a copy of their intervention in MS WORD and PDF format via emailing to estatements@un.org no later than 3 hours before the respective meeting but preferable earlier for accessibility.
All meetings are 3-hour-sessions except the segment on Roundtable 3 which will be a 2-hour-session.
CRPD Elections
Elections for the CRPD committee members will be organized on 14 June during the COSP15.
- Note of the Secretary-General (CRPD/CSP/2022/CRP.1)
- General information about the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Credentials
The e-Credentials service, via the e-DELEGATE portal, is already available for the COSP15 Conference, meaning that delegations can now submit their credentials and relevant information on their national delegation through the e-DELEGATE portal. The credentials of representatives and the names of members of national delegation, issued by the Head of State or Government or by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, should be submitted by the 8th of June, if possible, and in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, States Parties are kindly requested to bring the original hard copy of the formal credentials to the General Assembly Hall at the opening meeting on 14th June.
Note Verbale (DESA-22/00131, dated 3 February 2022), the secretariat is pleased to inform States Parties that the /e-CREDENTIALS/ e-DELEGATE / will be available from 1 March 2022 for submission of a scanned copy of the Credentials for the 15th session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities that shall take place in UNHQs New York from 14 to 16 June 2022.
States Parties are further informed that the original copy of the credentials shall be submitted to the secretariat at the Conference prior to the opening of the 15th session on 14 June 2022, right before the opening of the 15th session.
Should delegations experience any technical issues in using the e-DELEGATE portal for submission of their Credentials, please direct inquiries to missions-support@un.int.
United Nations Ground Passes for Delegations
Delegations shall obtain a valid United Nations grounds pass for all national delegation members whose names are reflected in their credentials submitted via e-DELEGATE portal in order to gain access to the United Nations headquarters.
While no secondary permits or passes will be issued for the COSP15, delegations shall be aware, when designating representatives and alternates to in-person meetings, there is a seating capacity limitation for each delegation at a particular meeting, and specifically, each delegation will have 1+5 seats in the General Assembly Hall and 1+1 seats in the Conference Room 4 during the 15th session.
Accessibility Requirements
The United Nations is committed to promotion of accessibility and inclusion for persons with disabilities at and beyond the Headquarters. All efforts and measurements such as seating adjustments will be made where feasible to best accommodate the needs of all participants with disabilities who have notified well in advance their specific accessibility needs.
Delegations that have delegates whose specific accessibility needs requires special attention and accommodation but still have not notified the secretariat shall consider to do so IMMEDIATELY, by emailing to enable@un.org. The earlier the secretariat is informed about individual needs, the easier it is to arrange them. Please send the following details:
- Specific accessibility needs such as wheelchair access, hearing loops usage, documentation in Braille, large print, or sign language usage
- The name of the delegation and individual delegate especially when the delegate will expect speak on behalf of the delegation in a meeting.
Delegations are requested to also include specific accessibility needs details of their speaker, if applicable, when inscribing to the List of Speakers for the General Debate.
Technical Guidance
- Information Note for the Practical Arrangements for the COSP15
- Required Set Up for Virtual Meetings with Interpretation
If you experience further difficulties during the Conference, please send an email to lamrabat@un.org with a copy to socialngo@un.org and enable@un.org.
Civil Society Participation
- Registration for NGOs with ECOSOC status and NGOs Accredited to the Conference of State Parties is NOW open: The deadline is now CLOSED. For questions related to your indico registration, please contact by email contact.indico@un.org and copy lamrabat@un.org.
- Application for New NGO accreditation: The deadline is now CLOSED. For questions related to your application, please contact Mr. Amine Lamrabat at lamrabat@un.org.
- Virtual Civil Society Forum: The Civil Society Coordination Mechanism, facilitated by the International Disability Alliance (IDA) will host a Civil Society Forum on Monday 13 June 2022. Register here. For questions about the Forum, please contact directly the secretariat of the civil society coordination mechanism, via email to Ms. Erin Hardin at ehardin@ida-secretariat.org.
In-Person Registration for Panelists, NHRIs and Civil Society
Please note that in person registration is only open to those who have already registered online via the Indico system. Registration will take place at the UN Pass and ID office at 320 E 45th St, between 1st and 2nd Avenues.
For Civil Society
>> Instructions on how to get UN Ground Passes to attend COSP15
For Panelists and NHRIs
>> Instructions on how to get UN Ground Passes to attend COSP15
Registration will be open during the following times:
- Monday 13 June from 1 to 4pm
- Tuesday 14 June from 8am to 1pm
- Wednesday 15 June from 9am to 1pm
National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs)
- Registration for the NHRIs is NOW OPEN. The deadline is now CLOSED.
Side Events
** Given the situation on COVID-19, most side events for the COSP15 will be held online. Please note that the application for side events in-person is only open to registered Member States **
** Please note that each side event organizer is responsible for hosting and choosing their virtual event platform.**
- Side events provide an excellent opportunity for the Member States, UN entities, NHRIs, and NGOs to discuss the themes of the COSP and other critical issues related to persons with disabilities.
- Side events are for COSP attendees and registered participants as well as invited registered external guests.
- To promote broad stakeholder participation, ONLY one event application can be accommodated per the main sponsor.
- All questions on side events should be directed to socialngo@un.org and copy lamrabat@un.org.
Draft List of Side events (as of 12 June 2022)
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