Guest Blogger Mark Weber on UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

On July 30, the U.S. signed the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  It will be submitted to the Senate for ratification shortly.  Article 27 of the Convention covers work and employment, establishing non-discrimination principles, including reasonable accommodation and protection from harassment.  The treaty also covers such matters as economic security, access to justice, and educational rights

People with disabilities and their advocates worked for years on the Convention, and are excited to have the United States become a signatory and begin the process of ratifying.

Here's a link to the AP story about the signing, via the New York Times web site:

Remarks of President Obama concerning the signing are found at:

A full description of the treaty, its text, etc. can be found at:

Finally, there's also a helpful posting on Jim Gerl's Special Education Law Blog

Mark Weber
Vincent dePaul Professor of Law
DePaul University College of Law