UN Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) Stakeholder dialogue in the Federated States of Micronesia

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

Kaselehlie, Mogethin, Ran Annim, Len Wo

Good Morning

Thank you for inviting me to make a few remarks at the start of today’s stakeholder dialogue on disability and to reflect upon the importance of viewing persons with disabilities as full and equal members of society. The latter is not always the case and too often persons with disabilities are seen as objects of charity, medical treatment and social protection.

To change our perception and to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities, a new UN Human Rights Convention was adopted on 12 December 2006 during the 61st session of the General Assembly. It is entitled Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and it was the first UN Human Rights treaty of the twenty-first century. It also served as a major catalyst in the global disability rights movement. 

FSM ratified this Convention on 7 December 2016 and is now required to promote, protect, and ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities. It should also ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy full equality under the law. 

The global recognition that persons with disabilities are entitled to all human rights and freedoms is also visible in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which explicitly includes disability in the Sustainable Development Goals, targets and indicators supporting a more inclusive and equitable world for persons with disabilities.

According to 2023 statistics from WHO, approximately 16 per cent of the world’s population have a form of disability – that is 1 in 6 of us. This statistic is suspected to be higher with the prevalence of NCD related disabilities and non-visible disabilities, including learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, and psychosocial disabilities. 

Unfortunately, health inequities arise from unfair conditions faced by persons with disabilities, including stigma, discrimination, poverty, exclusion from education and employment, and barriers faced in the health system itself.

For instance, persons with disabilities can incur higher costs, such as costs for assistive devices, personal care costs and transportation costs whilst being disadvantaged in employment opportunities. 

Circling back to FSM, it is worthwhile to note that it established national and state level capacities for the advancement of the rights of persons with disabilities under the Department of Health and Social Affairs following its ratification of the CRPD in 2016, Also, multiple national and state level disability CSOs and NGOs were established to support the advocacy for people with disabilities.

One of the highlights is the Special Education Programme for persons with disabilities under the SAMHSA programme, which ensures inclusive education for children with disabilities. Another highlight is the dispatch of 4 youth athletes by the 2023 Special Olympics Micronesia to compete in the International Special Olympics games in Berlin.

I was also pleased to learn about the state level Disability Acts passed by the State Legislatures of Pohnpei in 2019, Kosrae in 2021 and Chuuk in 2022. In doing so, these states recognized the importance of the FSM’s ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 

Access to parking and access to buildings are important to persons of disabilities. They are important as they enable their full and equal participation in society, including gainful employment. In enabling parking, I was pleased to learn about the creation of identification cards by the Pohnpei State Department of Public Safety that allow accessible parking for Pohnpei citizens with disabilities. I was also pleased to learn about the ongoing assistance by the Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility in developing a national building code for FSM that will facilitate physical access by persons with disabilities to existing and new buildings. 

In concluding, I would like to thank FSM and its four States of Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae for their continued commitment to fulfill their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 

Thank you