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STATEMENT BY
CHARGE D’AFFAIRES A.I.
PERMANENT MISSION OF MALAYSIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS
ON BEHALF OF
THE ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS (ASEAN)
AT THE
12th SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE OF STATES PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES (CRPD)
GA HALL, UN HEADQUARTERS
NEW YORK, 11 JUNE 2019
__________________________________________________________________
Mr. President,
1. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam and my country, Malaysia.
2. Please allow me to extend ASEAN’s warm congratulations to you and the members of the Bureau on your elections. Please be assured of ASEAN’s full support; we have full faith that you will steer this conference in achieving a fruitful result, especially for persons with disabilities.
3. ASEAN welcomes the theme of this session – Ensuring the inclusion of persons with disabilities in a changing world through the implementation of the CRPD. This theme is timely and appropriate as we live in a world that witness an ever-changing technological landscape. We need to find tools and innovative solutions to ensure that persons with disabilities are not left behind.
4. All ASEAN Member States have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which affirms, among others, guarantees of the full enjoyment of the rights of persons with disabilities, without discrimination as well as the equalization of opportunities for everyone through policies, plans and actions at the national, regional and global level.
5. ASEAN is committed to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in society through participation at national and regional levels. ASEAN’s policy framework on advancing the rights and welfare of persons with disabilities was derived from the Bali Declaration on the Enhancement of the Role and Participation of Persons with Disabilities in the ASEAN Community (2011). Espoused in the Declaration is the need to craft policies and programs that cut across the three pillars of the ASEAN that would mainstream the rights and welfare of persons with disabilities.
6. ASEAN has proclaimed 2011 – 2020 as the ASEAN Decade of Persons with Disabilities to promote disability inclusivity as the region moves toward integration. The resulting Framework Mobilisation identified fifteen (15) priority areas that show ASEAN’s recognition that mainstreaming the rights of persons with disabilities needs a concerted response from all three pillars.
7. Guided by the ASEAN Community Vision 2025’s resolve for regional integration that is rules-based, people-oriented and people-centred, and building on the ASEAN Decade of Persons with Disabilities, ASEAN leaders adopted the ASEAN Enabling Masterplan 2025 Mainstreaming the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during the 33rd ASEAN Summit in Singapore in November 2018, committing ASEAN to protect the rights and advance the welfare of persons with disabilities through frameworks , initiatives and strategic measures that concretely outline key action points for each of the three (3) Community Pillars.
8. ASEAN actively put into action the Enabling Masterplan 2025 through regional dialogues and forums that would build partnerships among relevant NGOs and civil society, the private sector and the public, in order to promote the rights and development of persons with disabilities, with the thinking that more could be achieved by synergizing efforts.
9. ASEAN and UN ESCAP have identified the complementarities of ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by going through the line actions of all three (3) pillars of ASEAN, finding synergies with the 17 sustainable development goals and harmonizing the region’s development with that of the global community. The framework stresses the principle of inclusivity, putting emphasis on vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities, and identifying and addressing gaps to ensure that no one is left behind.
I thank you, Mr. President.