UN Human Rights Council

Social Structures

Author: Matthew McKenna, PhD Researcher at Maynooth University’s Assisting Living and Learning Institute (ALL), Research Funded through the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research Training in Advanced Networks for Sustainable Societies (ADVANCE CRT)

‘The disability convention should accelerate the trend underway in most corners of the world toward respecting and advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. It will reinforce reform efforts underway in many countries. It will help put in place a dynamic of reform in those countries that have yet to begin a serious reform effort’ (Quinn, as cited in Quinn and Waddington ed., 2009, p. 114).

The above quote from Quinn and Waddington was made in the aftermath of the entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD/Convention) in 2008. Their prediction proved to be correct as the CRPD provided a global framework for the advancement of human rights for and by, persons with disabilities, and helped to bolster existing frameworks for legal and policy reform efforts. It also helped to usher in new multilateral initiatives and strategic programmes to tackle disability discrimination and was intended to foster inclusion and human rights for all people irrespective of age or disability status. Whilst its implementation is still very much a work in progress, the CRPD proved to be a pivotal legal and policy instrument of international law by highlighting the discriminatory and inaccessible nature of modern society, thus raising the question of a need for a UN Convention on the Rights of Older People. On 1^st October, the UN International Day of Older Persons, this proposed convention is worthy of serious discussion and renewed consideration.

Author: Niccolò Zugliani, Doctoral Candidate at the Law Department of the University of Verona (Italy)

Picture used on the United NAtions Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) webpage
https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/holocaustremembranceday — _{https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/holocaustremembranceday}
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The International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust is a yearly reminder of the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazi regime during World War II. It is also an occasion to pay heed to the existence, even at present times, of potential cases of genocide, despite the international commitments to prevent it and to punish its perpetrators. As such, it offers the opportunity to reflect on the hurdles faced by international criminal justice when confronted with this international crime, and on some avenues recently pursued to avoid impunity.

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