IMNI to establish Disability Forum and call on Government to take action

The Equality Commission and the NI Human Rights Commission, acting as the Independent Mechanism in Northern Ireland (IMNI) under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), are establishing a disability stakeholder forum.

The IMNI Disability Forum will involve persons with disabilities and their representative organisations to further assist both organisations to deliver their joint role to promote, protect and monitor implementation of UNCRPD in Northern Ireland. The Forum will also inform wider engagement to support and challenge government to give effect to the UNCRPD in Northern Ireland.

The establishment of the Forum is a result of ongoing involvement with stakeholders regarding how best we can work together to protect and monitor the implementation of the CRPD. Involvement in independent monitoring is however not a replacement for the direct involvement of disabled people in the work of government to implement the CRPD and make Convention rights a reality across Northern Ireland.

We call again for the creation of a regional disability forum by the Department for Communities (DfC), as was committed to in the last Programme for Government, to involve people with disabilities in the design, delivery and review of key actions by government to advance and mainstream key disability issues. We also call on government to ensure the sufficient funding of Disabled Persons Organisations and disabled people, to enable their full and effective involvement.

The Equality Commission and the NI Human Rights Commission will be engaging further with stakeholders to establish the IMNI Disability Forum with a membership that is representative of disabled people and their representative organisations.