Six years after the entry into force of the Inter-American Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, the member states of the OAS adopted the Program of Action for the Decade of the Americas for Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities (PAD), during the thirty-seventh regular session of the General Assembly held in Panama in June 2007 [AG/RES. 2339 (XXXVII-O/07)].

The PAD is a mobilizing instrument for public policies and a commitment of a political nature applicable to all OAS Member States, which presents a set of objectives and concrete actions divided into 15 thematic axes that serve as a guide for Member States to achieve progress. substantive in the construction of inclusive societies. These areas are:

  • Awareness of society
  • Health
  • Rehabilitation and Habilitation
  • Education
  • Work and employment
  • Accessibility
  • Citizen, political and social participation
  • Participation in cultural, artistic, sports and recreational activities
  • Development, well-being and social inclusion
  • Exercise of legal capacity
  • Personal autonomy and independent living
  • Access to justice
  • Emergency, catastrophe and disaster situations
  • Life free of violence
  • International cooperation

On June 5, 2018, the OAS General Assembly adopted Resolution AG/RES. 2928 (XLVIII-O/18) by which it resolved to approve the Program of Action for the Decade of the Americas for the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities (PAD) for a new decade, 2016-2026, and to entrust the Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (CEDDIS) the formation of a working group of mixed composition, made up of its members and experts from civil society organizations of and for persons with disabilities and other actors in order to accompany the monitoring that CEDDIS carries out on the hemispheric implementation of said Action Program. This is the “Monitoring Group for the implementation of the Action Program for the Decade of the Americas for the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities (2016-2026)” or “Mixed Group”, made up of nine members who act personal title as independent experts.


Members of the Joint Group for Hemispheric Follow-up of the Action Program

  • Representatives of CEDDIS
NameCountryJob position
Clarivel Castillo  GuatemalaPresident of the Board of Directors,
National Council for the Care of People with Disabilities (CONADI).
Zulma Ferreira  ParaguayDirector of Decentralization of the National Secretariat for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, SENADIS.
Third member
Pending appointment
  • Representatives of Civil Society
NameJob position
Gabriela Martínez Director of the Associative Movement of the Mexican Confederation of Organizations in favor of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (CONFE).
Dean Lermen Secretary of Human Rights of the Latin American Union of the Blind (ULAC), period 2016 – 2020.
Juan Angel De Gouveia President of the Latin American Network of Non-governmental Organizations of People with Disabilities and their Families (RIADIS). President of the Deaf Confederation of Venezuela (CONSORVEN).
  • Social actors
NameJob position
Olga MontufarPresident Paso a Paso Foundation A.C (Mexico). Co-President of the Global Network and Focal Point of Latin America and the Caribbean for Indigenous People with Disabilities of the UNPFII. Coordinator of the Network of Indigenous Women with Disabilities ALC.
Luis Miguel Del Águila Postgraduate professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. He is an expert in legislation, human rights, public policies, programs and projects on disability.
Silvia Quan Guatemalan specialist in human rights of people with disabilities. She is an independent expert of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for the period 2011-2016.


Contributions to the Joint Group for Hemispheric Follow-up of the Action Program

Information to make contributions to the Joint Group for hemispheric follow-up of the Program of Action


Objectives
  • Serve as a forum to analyze and monitor the hemispheric progress recorded in the implementation of the PAD.
  • Propose cooperation mechanisms between the OAS Member States to facilitate the achievement of the commitment acquired by the OAS Member States to consolidate, by the year 2026, substantive progress in the construction of an inclusive, supportive society, accessible to all and based in the recognition of the full and equal enjoyment and exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms of people with disabilities, eliminating prejudices, stereotypes and social stigmas.
Activities
  • Propose an operating regulation and reform it, ad referendum of the CEDDIS.
  • Adopt your biannual action plan and work schedule.
  • Accompany CEDDIS in the process of defining goals and indicators for the evaluation of the PAD.
  • Identify barriers, challenges and/or legislative gaps for the implementation of the PAD, through mapping of regulatory frameworks and/or public policies among other means.
  • Issue recommendations for legislative harmonization.
  • Prepare regional thematic reports.
  • Co-participate with CEDDIS in exchange meetings with other mechanisms for monitoring regulatory frameworks of the Inter-American or universal human rights system, to promote knowledge and implementation of the PAD.
  • Support the actions that can be carried out from the CEDDIS for the identification of autonomous and external financing sources, which allow obtaining additional contributions to the voluntary fund of specific contributions created by the General Assembly of the OAS.
Beneficiary Countries
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Argentina
Barbados
Barbados
Belize
Belize
Bolivia
Bolivia
Brazil
Brazil
Canada
Canada
Chile
Chile
Colombia
Colombia
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Cuba flag
Cuba
Dominica
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Ecuador
El Salvador
El Salvador
Grenada
Grenada
Guatemala
Guatemala
Guyana
Guyana
Haiti
Haiti
Honduras
Honduras
Jamaica
Jamaica
Mexico
Mexico
Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Panama
Panama
Paraguay
Paraguay
Peru
Peru
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname
Suriname
The Bahamas
The Bahamas
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
United States of America
United States of America
Uruguay
Uruguay
Venezuela
Venezuela
Team
Mercedes Carrillo
Legal Officer