There are over one billion persons with disabilities in the world today. Although many are at the “bottom billion” of the global hierarchy, over the past decade they have capably organized to get their rights recognized through the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in 2015, affirm the importance of those international commitments.

By ratifying the UNCRPD in 2010, Canada agreed to promote the rights of persons with disabilities in its domestic and international policies. What has Canada done to implement its commitments under the UNCRDP, notably through its official development assistance? What could the new federal government do to revive Canada’s global leadership on this file? How could renewed Canadian engagement play out in Africa and elsewhere, including in important partner countries like Haiti?

This series of five blogs offers timely insight into these issues, as Canada’s record on the UNCRPD will be reviewed at the UN this summer. Each blog is written by experts in the field, brought together by the Disability and Global Development project housed at Mount Saint Vincent University. They also build on CIPS’ exploration of those issues through a conference on fragile states in 2013.