CRPD Pulse – Issue 1 (April 2026): A biannual update on the CRPD

Dear 

The CRPD Pulse is a summary of the substantive outcomes of the CRPD Committee's 34th session. It would be great if you could go through it and share broadly among national OPDs so that the community receives the latest elements of the CRPD Committee’s work.

34th session of the CRPD Committee: outcomes, highlights and new elements in recommendations

The 34th session of the CRPD Committee led to key advances: the adoption of Concluding Observations for five countries, the development of new general comments and guidelines, and the issuance of an inquiry report. A new working group was established, and planning began for the Convention's 20th anniversary. Outcomes and further details are available at the provided links:

Concluding Observations in the First Reviews of Five States Parties

The Committee reviewed Lesotho, Liberia, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, and Pakistan. Liberia’s dialogue occurred without a state delegation. The International Disability Alliance supported OPDs presenting concerns. A few innovative recommendations included new focus areas: climate change, international cooperation, and securing sustainable domestic resources for policies.

Lesotho

The first review of Lesotho included standard recommendations: legal harmonisation, recognition of economic, social, and cultural rights, increased budget allocations (paras. 7(c), (d), and (e)), stronger and better-resourced disability governance structures (para. 65(b)), and OPD consultation (para. 9(b)). The Committee clarified, under Article 13, that procedural and age-appropriate accommodations apply not only to judicial and administrative, but also (and for the first time) to customary dispute-settlement mechanisms, which recognises and entitlement but presents implementation challenges. For the right to privacy—until 2023 almost unaddressed—the recommendations are detailed: the state must prevent interference, raise awareness among persons with disabilities, service providers, and others (para. 45(a)), ensure parties request consent for access and management of personal, health, rehabilitation, and disability-related information (para. 45(b)), and introduce complaint mechanisms (para. 45(c)). For Lesotho and also Pakistan, the Committee revived the call for a “non-rejection” education policy, urging the State to end special education, develop a plan for quality inclusive education, and prohibit discontinuation or referrals based on impairment (para. 49(b)).

Liberia

Liberia did not reply to the Committee’s List of Issues and was reviewed in the absence of a State delegation. The Committee issued recommendations, focusing on the absence of national disability legislation that reflects the CRPD's provisions, and urged the adoption of a CRPD-compliant bill with an implementation framework, timelines, a budget, and OPD consultation (para. 8(b)). Under article 24 of the CRPD, the Committee addressed high adult illiteracy, for the second time in State reviews, and urged the establishment of a national adult literacy programme for persons with disabilities, with reasonable accommodations, accessible materials, and trained facilitators (para. 44(g)). The Committee also referenced for the first time the Amman-Berlin Declaration on Global Disability Inclusion (para. 60), as it also did for Pakistan in the same session, and recommended consultation with OPDs and mainstreaming disability in international cooperation (paras. 60(a), 60(b)).

The Marshall Islands

During its first review of the Marshall Islands, the Committee welcomed the 2015 Persons with Disabilities Act. It stressed the need for implementation and for adopting the Consequential Amendments Bill to harmonise laws with the CRPD. The Committee identified weak government structures, limited funding, and strong reliance on international cooperation. It recommended reinforcing the Disability Coordination Office, creating a cross-ministerial disability budget, and improving coordination with partners (para. 6(b)). Given the importance of Official Development Assistance, the Committee urged under article 32 CRPD The State should “ensure investment and partnerships focus on specific critical gaps for persons with disabilities and that all donor investment includes disability-specific indicators and disability-inclusive design and delivery” (para. 58(a)). In consultation with OPDs, it should ensure that persons with disabilities benefit equally from bilateral cooperation agreements and programmes (para. 60).

Samoa

Nearly 10 years after ratifying the Convention, Samoa still lacks a comprehensive legal and policy framework for implementing the CRPD. The Committee recommended adopting one, including through a Disability Bill (para. 6(b)). Samoa plays a key role in global climate discussions as Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States and in International Court of Justice proceedings. The Committee therefore urged it to “[p]romote the leadership and representation of persons with disabilities in…advocacy efforts on climate change, including in the implementation of the Paris Agreement and reporting of NDCs” (para. 20(c)). This aligns and coincides in time with the recognition of the Disability Caucus at the UN Climate Change Conference. The Committee noted that disability policies are “largely donor-driven and time-bound,” with “limited government ownership and sustainability” (para. 60). It recommended “adequate and sustainable domestic funding…reducing reliance on external donor support” (para. 61(b)) and called for increased fiscal space and domestic resource mobilisation for sustainability.

Pakistan

The review of Pakistan highlighted typical federal-state concerns. It found significant disparities in rights protection across provinces and weak coordination between government levels. This results in fragmented implementation. The Committee called for “effective federal and interprovincial coordination mechanisms to ensure a reasonable level of harmonisation of the laws and policies [of] different provinces” (para. 6(d)). Natural disasters such as floods in 2022 and 2025 present challenges and have affected many persons with disabilities. The Committee required the State to provide fully accessible emergency services nationwide. It called for “full and effective representation and participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organisations in the federal and provincial disaster prevention and mitigation mechanisms” (paras. 20(a) and (b)). Many countries experience exploitation of persons with disabilities, especially children, through forced begging. In Pakistan, it could also be linked to international human trafficking. The Committee noted that policies under the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act are not inclusive. Thus, it urged the State to “[i]nvestigate and report on the number of persons with disabilities who are being subjected to human trafficking,” and to ensure access to remedies, sanctions, and reparations (para. 30(b)).

Inquiry report carried out under the Optional Protocol related to institutionalisation of persons with disabilities in Mexico

The next section provides a summary of the Committee’s new inquiry report, which addresses the institutionalisation of persons with disabilities in Mexico.

During the 34th session, the CRPD Committee published its fourth inquiry report under Article 6 of the Optional Protocol. This report addresses the policy and practice of institutionalisation of persons with disabilities in México, following a confidential procedure started in 2021. The report is 23 pages. It is accompanied by a 45-page document titled 'Factual Conclusions of the Inquiry on México by the Committee under article 6 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention.' Compared to the previous inquiry report on Hungary (2020), the Committee now provides more detail. It identifies specific concerns, such as private institutions operating irregularly, without registry or official monitoring, and even in private residential garages.

The CRPD Committee analyses the lack of compliance and breaches of 10 rights recognised in the Convention, including the rights to equal recognition before the law (Art. 12), access to justice (Art. 13), liberty and security of the person (Art. 14), protection from torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Art. 15), protection from all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse (Art. 16), the right to live independently and be included in the community (Art. 19), respect for home and family (Art. 23), and health (Art. 25).  

Among its recommendations, the Committee urged the repeal of legal provisions allowing for forced hospitalisation and the adoption of a deinstitutionalisation plan. The Committee also recommended Mexico ensure mechanisms for reparation that are accessible, effective and expeditive for persons with disabilities who are or have been institutionalised and to "consider establishing an interinstitutional commission on reparations with representation of organisations of persons with disabilities and other CSOs, with sufficient human, technical and financial resources". Such a commission should design a comprehensive reparations plan, seeking reintegration in the community of those affected and guarantees of non-repetition. 

Individual communications

The CRPD Committee considered five individual communications, finding violations in two of them (cases Rožalovskis v. Latvia and J.A. and M.M. v. Serbia), declaring the other two (cases M.S v. Germany and Černáková v. Slovakia) inadmissible, and discontinuing the last one (case N.V.H, L.H.F. and H.L.G. v. Argentina). The full views can be found on the 34th session webpage, and the extended summaries are in Annex III of the session's report.

Focusing on the cases decided on the merits, in Černáková v. Slovakia, the Committee found violations of articles 5, 13, 15(2) and 16(5) of the Convention. Ms. Černáková, a person with intellectual disability and an autism spectrum disorder, had been institutionalised between 2010 and 2013. She submitted a complaint of ill-treatment to the police, who dismissed it. Such dismissal was confirmed by the district and regional prosecutors. The latter opened an investigation into the crime of restricting her liberty. Throughout the procedures, Ms Černáková was never heard or provided with procedural accommodation to participate effectively. The allegations of ill-treatment, including beatings and physical restraints, were not a matter of investigation, in violation of the arts. 15(2) and 16(5) CRPD.

In Rožalovskis v. Latvia, the CRPD Committee issued an important holding: the "formal recognition of disability is evidentiary rather than constitutive", meaning that one is a person with disability with rights, even if (still) not formally recognised as such by administrative structures. In the case of a water supply company, the company terminated Mr Rožalovskis' employment contract on June 26, 2015, while the recognition procedure as a person with disability was pending. 24 days later, on July 20, 2015, a medical commission confirmed that the author had a "Group III disability caused by illness since 19 June 2015". Given that the national courts upheld the dismissal from employment based on the lack of formal recognition of disability (when the procedure for recognition was ongoing and pending resolution), the Committee found violations to articles 5 and 27(1)(a) of the Convention and recommended the State Party to provide the author "with an effective remedy, including effective reparation, adequate monetary compensation for the violations of his rights under the Convention and all required support to re-enter the labour market and find another job if that was his wish".

A CRPD Committee Working Group to work on Article 32 

In line with the request from the International Disability Alliance, expressed by IDA's Vice-President, Ms Sanja Tarczay, at the opening of the session, the CRPD Committee decided to create a Working Group on article 32 of the CRPD (International cooperation). This WG will be chaired by Committee members Mr Muhannad AL AZZEH and Ms Natalia GUALA BETHYATE and will initiate work, in collaboration with external partners, towards a future general comment on such an important article of the Committee for the current times.  

Questions? Contact Juan Ignacio Pérez Bello at jiperezbello@ida-secretariat.org