UN Human Rights Treaties

United Nations A/AC.265/2004/4
General Assembly Distr.: General
21 May 2004
Original: English
04-36128 (E) 250504
*0436128*
Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and
Integral International Convention on the
Protection and Promotion of the Rights and
Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
Third session
New York, 24 May-4 June 2004
Letter dated 18 May 2004 from the Permanent Representative of
New Zealand to the United Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General
It is my pleasure to introduce an easy-to-read English version of the draft
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that was prepared in January
2004 by a working group of the Ad Hoc Committee on Disabilities.
The New Zealand Government prepared the easy-to-read English version to
ensure access to consultations on the draft Convention for New Zealanders with
lower reading comprehension skills, including persons with intellectual disabilities.
While this easy-to-read English version follows as closely as possible the
Working Group’s draft, it is not possible to fully translate all legal terms into plain
language. We hope, however, that the plainer language version will be a useful tool
to assist persons with disabilities who have difficulty reading complex material to
understand the issues covered in the draft Convention. We also hope this will also
allow access for English speaking persons with disabilities in other countries to the
processes surrounding the development of an international convention on their
human rights.
I would be grateful if you could circulate the present letter as a document of
the Ad Hoc Committee on Disabilities and post the easy-to-read English version of
the draft Convention on the United Nations Enable web site (see http://iseek.un.org/
frame.asp?url=http://intranet.un.org>.
(Signed) Don MacKay