Support to the Rights and Entitlements of Persons with Disabilities

China has the largest community of women and men with disabilities in the world. While in recent years there have been significant improvements in their living conditions and social status, they still face enormous barriers in access to services and entitlements due to the lack of capacity among dedicated institutions and duty-bearers, as well as poor awareness among Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs) and persons with disabilities about their rights. Nonetheless, in recent high-level political statements, the Chinese authorities placed greater emphasis on improving the lives of persons with disabilities. This Programme intends to seize the opportunity of this political momentum to promote a rights-based perspective to address the needs of persons with disabilities, marking a shift from the current approaches that tend to focus on health and welfare.
This Programme, implemented by ILO, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF under the aegis of the UN Country Team in China, intends to develop the capacity of DPOs and government to advance the rights of persons with disabilities. Building upon the existing cooperation, it seeks to develop the institutional capacity of DPOs and agencies, such as the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, to improve their partnerships with national and local authorities to increase access to key services for persons with disabilities. It will seek to strengthen the role of key government officials, civil servants and professional categories1 in fulfilling the rights of persons with disabilities. By doing this, the provision and promotion of the rights, entitlements and legal protections afforded to persons with disabilities is improved.