UN Human Rights Treaties

UNITED NATIONS
General Assembly
Distr. GENERAL
A/RES/48/99 11 March 1994
Forty-eighth session Agenda item 109
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY [on the report of the Third Committee (A/48/627)]
48/99. Towards full integration of persons with disabilities into society; a continuing world programme of action
The General Assembly,
Recalling all its relevant resolutions, including resolutions 37/52 and 37/53 of 3 December 1982, 46/96 of 16 December 1991 and 47/88 of 16 December 1992, and recalling also Economic and Social Council decision 1992/276 of 30 July 1992 and Commission on Human Rights resolution 1992/48 of 3 March 1992, 1/
Noting the importance of developing and carrying out concrete long-term strategies for the full implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons 2/ beyond the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, with the aim of achieving a society for all by the year 2010,
Welcoming the unreserved reaffirmation in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action 3./ of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons with disabilities,
1/ See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1992,
Supplement No. 2 (E/1992/22), chap. II, sect. A.
2/ A/37/351/Add.1and Corr.l, annex, sect. VIII, recommendation 1
(IV).
3/ Report of the World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna,
14-25 June 1993 (A/CONF.157/24 (Part I)), chap. III.
94-13093

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Reaffirming that the efforts of both the developing and the developed countries are indispensable in mobilizing the world's attention and resources to address the problems of persons with disabilities,
Aware of the major obstacles to the implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons, foremost among them an inadequate allocation of resources,
1. Reaffirms the continuing validity and value of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons, which provides a firm and innovative framework for disability-related issues;
2. Reiterates the responsibility of Governments for removing or facilitating the removal of barriers and obstacles to the full integration of persons with disabilities into society, and supports their efforts in developing national policies to reach specific objectives;
3. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to give higher priority and visibility to disability issues within the programme of work of the United Nations system by:

(a) Integrating disability issues into the policies, programmes and projects of the specialized agencies on a broader scale and with higher priority, and asking all the specialized agencies to report on their engagement in the disability field;
(b) Asking the United Nations Development Programme to review how a disability component can be incorporated into all its reconstruction programmes on a continuing basis;
(c) Urging the finalization of the ongoing work on the creation of a disability index based on the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities; 4/
(d) Encouraging the activities of the United Nations Children's Fund in promoting prevention and early detection, public awareness and community-based rehabilitation in respect of childhood disabilities;
(e) Publishing a manual on the integration of disability issues into national planning and development projects;
(f) Continuing the work of collecting statistical data about disability matters and finalizing the development of a global disability indicator;
(g) Pursuing his efforts to establish a panel of persons with wide experience in the field of disability, including persons with disabilities, and with due regard to equitable geographical representation, to advise him on disability matters;
4/ See resolution 48/96, annex.

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(h) Urging Governments to integrate, where possible, disability components into technical assistance and technical cooperation programmes, including the exchange of experience in the disability field under the auspices of the competent specialized agencies;
4. Encourages the consideration during major forthcoming events, including the International Conference on Population and Development, to be held in 1994, the International Year of the Family, to be observed in 1994, the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace, to be held in 1995, and the World Summit for Social Development, to be held in 1995, of disability issues relevant to their themes;
5. Recommends that the regional commissions and other competent regional organizations be fully utilized to explore the best ways and means to improve the specific situation of persons with disabilities in each region;
6. Invites Member States and the private sector, including competent non-governmental organizations, to contribute to the United Nations Voluntary Fund on Disability;
7. Invites Member States and other donors to pay close attention to the increasing number of persons with disabilities as a consequence of poverty and disease, wars and civil strife and demographic and environmental factors, including natural disasters and catastrophic accidents;
8. Commends the launching of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002, and the adoption of the Proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asian and Pacific Region 5/ by the intergovernmental meeting to launch the Decade, convened by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific at Beijing from 1 to 5 December 1992;
9. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session on relevant developments concerning the present resolution, in the context of his report on the development of a plan of action to implement the long-term strategy to further the implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons.
85th plenary meeting 20 December 1993
5/ See E/ESCAP/902, annex I.