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	Laws need to change to address nation’s gun violence by Giffords Law Center, AP, PBS, agencies USA   May 2022   Laws need to change to address nation’s gun violence. (AP, PBS, agencies)   A gunman has killed at least 19 children aged between 7 years and 10 years in a horrific attack at Robb Elementary School, in south-west Texas. The school is located in Uvalde, a town of about 16,000 people between San Antonio and the border with Mexico. Two teachers were killed in the incident and the Uvalde Memorial Hospital said 13 children were taken there.   The 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos was killed by police attending the scene, he was reportedly carrying a AR-15 assault rifle and a pistol.   The shooting in Uvalde marks the deadliest school shooting since 2018, when three teachers and 14 students were killed in Parkland, Florida and the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, in which 20 elementary school children and six faculty members were killed.   In 2022 thus far there have been at least 199 mass shootings across the United States, according to NPR. In 2020, firearms surpassed auto accidents as the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 19 years old.   A coalition of gun control advocacy groups have issued statements of outrage and devastation following the shooting at Robb elementary school, calling school shootings the product of “inaction and cowardice” by lawmakers to pass gun control laws.   “A hate-fueled shooting in Buffalo, a school shooting in Texas, and a supreme court on the verge of putting existing gun laws in jeopardy – these are all symptoms of our nation’s profoundly broken approach to guns,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, the nation’s largest gun control group.   “We are heartbroken for everyone impacted by this senseless act of violence in a predominantly Latinx community,” said Rena Estala, a volunteer with the Texas chapter of Students Demand Action. “School is the last place where kids should have to worry about gun violence. We need leaders at every level to prioritize gun safety now.”   “We’re devastated by this horrific act of gun violence that will forever traumatize the Uvalde community,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, a grassroots organization that is part of Everytown.   “School shootings are not acts of nature, they’re man-made acts of inaction, of cowardice, of corruption by all lawmakers who refuse to pass laws proven by data to stop preventable, senseless shootings like in Uvalde. We cannot and will not accept a reality in which our children aren’t safe in schools or their communities.”   U.S. President Joe Biden said, “I had hoped when I became president I would not have to do this, again. Another massacre”.. “To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away.. There’s a hollowness in your chest you feel like you’re being sucked into it … you’re never quite the same”   “When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?” he said. “Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen?”   “It is time to turn this pain to the action,” he said. “For every parent, every citizen of this country. We have to make it clear to every elected official in this country: it’s time to act. It’s time for those who obstruct or delay or blocked the common sense gun laws – we need to let you know that we will not forget.”   Former president Barack Obama said he and his wife Michelle “grieve with the families in Uvalde, who are experiencing pain no one should have to bear”.. “We’re also angry for them. Nearly ten years after Sandy Hook our country is paralyzed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness to act in any way that might help prevent these tragedies”.   Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who herself was a victim of a mass shooting in 2011, said she is “horrified” at inaction surrounding gun violence in the US.   "How many more children will be killed by guns? How many young lives cut short, families shattered, communities traumatized because our leaders refuse to act on gun violence?   Gun violence is a uniquely American problem – and it is now the leading cause of death for American children. I’m devastated that more precious young people have lost their lives in a horrific mass shooting today. I won’t rest until children can go to school without fearing for their lives. Our elected leaders must have the same resolve. Enough is enough".   Former congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell of Florida said the shooting shows how little has changed since the Majory Stoneman Douglas high school attack in her home state in 2018.   "Today, our nation witnessed yet another school shooting, the deadliest school shooting since the 2018 tragedy near my home at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school. Tragically, little has changed since then. Our elected leaders have been more interested in listening to the gun lobby than protecting our children – and until that changes, we will continue to see devastating incident after devastating incident".   US house of representatives majority leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland:   "How many more times must Americans watch innocent children die in mass shootings at elementary schools before we decide as a nation to do something about gun safety? How many more times will we send our thoughts and prayers to parents burying their small children? How many more times will Senate Republicans express outrage at horrific shootings like the one today in Uvalde, Texas and then block meaningful, bipartisan background-check legislation supported by nine out of ten Americans and most responsible gun owners? How many more times?   The House has passed HR 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, along with Whip Clyburn’s legislation to close the Charleston Loophole and other bills aimed at making our schools, houses of worship, malls, entertainment venues, and streets safer from deadly gun violence.   Senate Republicans continue to block them, even though they have overwhelming support from the American people, who are sick and tired of turning on the news to see images like those we see today of ambulances where there ought to be school buses and tearful first responders where there ought to be beaming teachers. These images are indefensible, as is the news of everyday violence from firearms in communities across America that do not make national headlines."   The attack at the elementary school in Uvalde, is the 27th school shooting this year alone. It came days before the National Rifle Association's annual convention was set to begin in Houston. Texas governor Greg Abbott is speaking at the conference as is former president Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz.   http://bit.ly/3NyCkiy http://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/advocate-says-federal-laws-need-to-change-to-address-nations-gun-violence http://www.c-span.org/video/?520721-1/president-biden-addresses-nation-mass-shootings http://www.bradyunited.org/press-releases/ http://giffords.org/news/ http://everytownlaw.org/press/ http://vpc.org/press/ http://vpc.org/press/manufacturer-of-ar-15-assault-rifles-designed-for-children-returns-with-new-sales-campaign/ http://momsdemandaction.org/stories/ http://studentsdemandaction.org/ http://www.sandyhookpromise.org/ http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01006-6/fulltext http://www.nea.org/about-nea/media-center/press-releases/nea-rejects-call-arm-teachers-wake-school-massacre-uvalde-texas http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/25/sandy-hook-families-speak-out-after-uvalde-school-shooting   http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/hayes-nra-s-good-guy-with-a-gun-theory-failed-in-real-time-in-uvalde-141005893630 http://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/27/us/politics/fact-check-trump-cruz-nra.html http://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.add1854 http://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/05/27/right-wing-supreme-court-poised-make-us-gun-carnage-even-worse http://www.npr.org/2022/05/27/1101490738/uvalde-buffalo-mass-shooting-similarities http://www.npr.org/2020/09/04/909119790/former-top-nra-exec-says-greed-corruption-pushed-gun-group-into-death-spiral http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/05/25/gun-control-legislation-senate-votes/9924328002/ http://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/27/nra-holds-convention-has-lobbying-cash-after-texas-school-shooting.html http://www.csgv.org/nra-tax-exempt-loaded-private-interest/   Feb. 2022   A gunmaker has been held liable for a mass shooting in the United States for the first time. (CNN, BBC, agencies)   Families of Sandy Hook school massacre settle with gun manufacturer Remington   The families of nine victims of a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut have agreed to settle a lawsuit against the manufacturer of an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle used to massacre 20 six- and seven-year-old students and six educators.   Remington will pay $73m to settle the claims of the families who had sued in 2015 saying the company should have never sold such a dangerous weapon to the public. Their focus, the plaintiffs said, was on preventing future mass shootings.   The case marks the first time a gun-maker has faced liability for a mass shooting. Until now, the industry had immunity from litigation.   Each family will receive a share of the settlement, but other details of the deal were not disclosed.   Josh Koskoff, a lawyer representing the families of victims, said they were delighted by the outcome because their focus was on "preventing the next Sandy Hook".   Anthony Zurcher, North America reporter for the BBC says future lawsuits more likely:   'In the early 2000s, the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups pushed states and the federal government to enact laws to protect gun manufacturers from financial responsibility for deaths that result from the use of their products. Their crowning achievement was the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, passed by Congress and signed by President George W Bush in 2005.   That law has shielded many gun manufacturers from legal exposure, but it was not enough to protect Remington and its Bushmaster AR-15, used by Adam Lanza to kill 20 children and six school employees in Newtown, Connecticut.   The families of five adults and four child victims claimed Remington pitched its rifle to "at-risk" young men in violent video games and with bombastic, militaristic language. They pointed to an exception in the federal law that prohibited illegal marketing claims. Remington's decision to pay $73 million to end the lawsuit suggests the company weighed the risk of going to trial and opened its chequebook.   This settlement may encourage state governments and gun-control advocates who want to hold manufacturers financially responsible for gun violence to press on - offering them hope that existing legal protections won't always be an insurmountable obstacle'.   One example cited by Mr Koskoff featured an image of a rifle along with the words "consider your man card reissued". The lawsuit alleged that the campaign formed part of a larger and "aggressive" marketing effort that included product placement in video games.   "I had thought the case was about the gun, but it's just as much about the greed," he said at a news conference on Tuesday.   The $73m amounts to the full amount of coverage available from Remington's four insurers.   "This victory should serve as a wake up call, not only to the gun industry, but also the insurance and banking companies that prop it up," he added. "For the insurance and banking industries, it's time to recognise the financial cost of underwriting companies that elevate profit by escalating risk."   Last July, Remington - the oldest gun-maker in the US - offered $33 million to (£24m) to the families, falling far short of the $225m they'd sought in court. They rejected the offer and said they had collected enough evidence to prove misconduct from Remington.   Despite the deaths of young children aged six and seven, no new national gun control laws were passed in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.   Despite the settlement, the parents of six-year-old Noah Pozner, who was killed in the shooting, said they do not completely feel that justice has been served.   Lenny Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa said their loss is “irreversible, and in that sense, this outcome is neither redemptive nor restorative”, according to CNN.   “One moment we had this dazzling, energetic six-year-old little boy, and the next all we had left, were echoes of the past, photographs of a lost boy who will never grow older, calendars marking a horrifying new anniversary, a lonely grave, and pieces of Noah’s life stored in a backpack and boxes.   “What is lost remains forever. However, the resolution does provide a measure of accountability in an industry that has thus far operated with impunity. For this we are grateful,” they said.   Nicole Hockley, the co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, lost her six-year-old son Dylan in the tragedy.   “Nothing will bring Dylan back,” Hockley said on Tuesday. “The closest I get to him now is by kissing his urn every night, telling him I love him and miss him. But I made him a promise and I’ll keep working to deliver that promise for the rest of my life.”   “My hope for this lawsuit is that by facing and finally being penalised for the impact of their work, gun companies along with the insurance and asking industries that enable them, will be forced to make their practices safer than they’ve ever been,” she said.   Other gun control advocates have since been encouraged to follow the Sandy Hook families’ strategy of looking at gunmaker’s marketing techniques, including New Jersey’s attorney general, who is investigating marketing by Smith & Wesson.   Mexico also filed a US lawsuit last year seeking $10bn from several gunmakers, accusing them of marketing their weapons to the country’s underworld.   New York last year enacted a law that allows firearm sellers, manufacturers and distributors to be sued for creating a “public nuisance” that endangers the public’s safety and health.   http://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/15/us/sandy-hook-shooting-settlement-with-remington/index.html http://giffords.org/lawcenter/press-release/2022/02/giffords-law-center-applauds-victory-in-ground-breaking-lawsuit/ http://www.bradyunited.org/press-releases/sandy-hook-newtown-remington-settlement-manufacturer-legal http://everytownlaw.org/press/sandy-hook-settlement-shows-that-gun-industry-can-and-will-be-held-accountable-for-reckless-and-illegal-practices/ http://vpc.org/press/gun-violence-prevention-groups-condemn-launch-of-ar-15-assault-rifles-designed-specifically-for-children/   Nov. 2021   Rittenhouse Verdict a Perversion of Justice, Empowers Hate-Fueled Vigilantes - Giffords Law Center   A jury today found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges. Rittenhouse was charged with five felonies, including shooting and killing two people, and injuring another. Giffords and Giffords Law Center Executive Directors released the following statement in response to the verdict.   Peter Ambler and Robyn Thomas:   “Today’s verdict is a perversion of justice. Our nation is built on laws—not vigilantism. Murder, racism, and hate-fueled violence should be condemned, not celebrated. Too often, our legal system protects the right of white Americans to take the lives of others, especially people of color. Kyle Rittenhouse wielded his whiteness as a shield and his AR-15 as a weapon in the streets of Kenosha, where police officers thanked the self-styled militia members, including Rittenhouse, and let him walk away after killing two people.   Rittenhouse also benefited from our country’s weak gun laws. The gun lobby argues that everyone will be safer if we all arm ourselves, but this extremist idea is neither supported by most Americans nor any evidence.   As the tragic events on that night in August showed, a 17-year-old arming himself with an AR-15 makes no one safer. Rather than roll back gun safety laws, as the gun lobby is pushing the Supreme Court to do, we must strengthen gun laws that protect us all.   Laws like minimum age requirements and assault weapon regulations don’t infringe on the Second Amendment—they’re commonsense protections. At the same time, extreme Stand Your Ground laws that encourage people to shoot first and ask questions later must be repealed.   Today’s verdict sends a troubling message that will encourage further vigilante violence and murder. That is not a society in which we are safe or free. Rather than accept this version of America, we recommit to doing everything in our power to make this country safer.”   http://giffords.org/press-release/2021/11/rittenhouse-verdict-a-perversion-of-justice-empowers-hate-fueled-vigilantes/ http://www.bradyunited.org/press-releases/decries-not-guilty-verdict-trial-kyle-rittenhouse-kenosha-armed-extremism-vigilantism http://www.everytown.org/press/wisconsin-moms-demand-action-students-demand-action-responds-to-verdict-in-trial-of-kyle-rittenhouse-who-shot-three-people-two-fatally-while-armed-with-an-ar-15-style-rifle/ http://www.splcenter.org/news/2021/11/19/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict-splc-denounces-lack-justice-acquittal-armed-teenager-who-killed http://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-responds-not-guilty-verdict-kyle-rittenhouse-case http://naacp.org/articles/naacp-president-ceo-derrick-johnson-releases-statement-not-guilty-verdict-kyle-rittenhouse http://vpc.org/press/gun-violence-prevention-groups-condemn-launch-of-ar-15-assault-rifles-designed-specifically-for-children/   In Other news:   * Three men have been found guilty of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man who was shot while jogging in the US state of Georgia in February 2020:   http://www.splcenter.org/news/2021/11/24/ahmaud-arbery-verdict-conviction-men-who-killed-unarmed-black-jogger-necessary-step-issues http://civilrights.org/2021/11/24/ahmaud-arbery-should-still-be-here/# http://acluga.org/press-statement-aclu-of-georgia-statement-on-conviction-verdict-in-the-trial-of-the-three-white-men-who-murdered-ahmaud-arbery/ http://bit.ly/3cLhlbJ http://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/11/22/22797456/ahmaud-arbery-murder-gregory-mcmichael-trial-georgia-jogging-jesse-jackson-column http://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/american-racism-and-the-buffalo-massacre http://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/15/nyregion/shooting-buffalo-ny/the-gunman-in-the-buffalo-mass-shooting-was-motivated-by-racism   * A US jury has ordered white supremacist leaders and white nationalist organisations to pay more than $US25 million in damages over violence that erupted during the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/11/23/charlottesville-verdict-live-updates/   Aug. 2021   Mexico sues US gunmakers in unprecedented attempt to stop weapons crossing border.   The Mexican government has launched legal action against US gunmakers in an unprecedented attempt to halt the flow of guns across the border, where US-made weapons are routinely used in cartel gun battles, terror attacks on civilians – and increasingly to challenge the state itself.   The Mexican government is suing six gun manufacturers in a Massachusetts court, alleging negligence in their failure to control their distributors and arguing that the illegal market in Mexico “has been their economic lifeblood”.   Announcing the suit, the foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, alleged that units of Smith & Wesson, Barrett Firearms, Colt’s Manufacturing Company, Glock and Ruger have catered to the tastes and needs of Mexican drug cartels and depend on illegal Mexican sales to boost their bottom lines.   The lawsuit alleges that gun companies openly pandered to Mexican criminals, citing Colt’s special edition .38 pistol, engraved with an image of the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata.   One such weapon was used in the 2017 murder of the Chihuahua journalist Miroslava Breach, who investigated links between politicians and organised crime and was shot dead while taking her son to school.   “We’re going to litigate in all seriousness and we’re going to win at trial and we’re going to drastically reduce the illegal weapons trafficking to Mexico, which cannot remain unpunished with respect to those who produce, promote and encourage this trafficking from the United States,” Ebrard said.   “The companies must immediately stop negligent practices, which cause damage in Mexico and cause deaths in Mexico.”   Mexico is seeking up to $10bn in damages, as well as better safety features on guns and tighter controls on sales.   Mexican officials said there were legal precedents for the suit, including a recent offer by Remington to pay nearly $33m to families to settle lawsuits claiming that its marketing of firearms contributed to the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre in Connecticut, where 26 people died.   None of the companies named in the suit made any immediate public response.   Mexico has been plagued by violence for the past 15 years, since the then president, Felipe Calderon, deployed troops to fight a militarized “war on drugs”. Much of the violence has been perpetrated with weapons originally sold in the US and smuggled into Mexico, according to analyses of firearms recovered from crime scenes.   A study by the Mexican government found that 2.5m weapons had been illegally smuggled into the country over the past 10 years, including military-grade weapons such as 50-calibre Barrett rifles capable of taking down helicopters.   Organised crime factions have become increasingly audacious as they confront rivals in battles over territory and even challenge security forces in pitched battles.   In October 2019, cartel gunmen with machine guns and armoured trucks overran the city of Culiacan, forcing the military to release Ovidio Guzman, son of the imprisoned cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman.   Adam Winkler, a law professor and gun policy expert at the University of California, Los Angeles, told the Associated Press the lawsuit was part of a recent wave of efforts to work around immunity laws, which shelter gun companies from litigation by victims. But he warned that the action was a “long shot”.   “Even if this lawsuit moves forward, it will be extremely difficult for Mexico to win because it will be hard to show that this distribution process or their distribution practices are a manifestation of negligence on the part of the gun makers,” he said.   John Lindsay-Poland, coordinator at Stop US Arms to Mexico, a project at the human rights group Global Exchange, said that even if the lawsuit does not succeed in bringing damages, it could expose the financial calculations gun companies make regarding gun imports to Mexico.   “There is no way the gun companies don’t know that their guns are purchased en masse and being trafficked illegally across the border to be used in violent crime,” he said.   “US weapons are essential to Mexican drug cartels,” said Falko Ernst, senior Mexico analyst at the International Crisis Group. A successful lawsuit and stopping US weapons “would make a deep dent, at least in the short and medium term”, Ernst said.   “But the question is whether alternative supply lines would eventually evolve if US weapons were unavailable,” he said.   http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/04/mexico-guns-us-manufacturers-lawsuit http://giffords.org/issues/the-gun-lobby/ http://igarape.org.br/en/latin-america-is-the-worlds-most-violent-region-a-new-report-investigates-why/
	Health inequities lead to diminished life expectancy for many persons with disabilities by World Health Organization, OHCHR, IDA, agencies   Dec. 2022   Health inequities lead to diminished life expectancy for many persons with disabilities   A new report by the World Health Organization shows evidence of a higher risk of premature death and illness among many persons with disabilities compared to others in the society.   The Global report on health equity for persons with disabilities shows that because of the systemic and persistent health inequities, many persons with disabilities face the risk of dying much earlier—even up to 20 years earlier—than persons without disabilities.   They have an increased risk of developing chronic conditions, with up to double the risk of asthma, depression, diabetes, obesity, oral diseases, and stroke. Many of the differences in health outcomes cannot be explained by the underlying health condition or impairment, but by avoidable, unfair and unjust factors.   Launched ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the report shows the number of people with significant disabilities worldwide has risen to 1.3 billion (or 1 in 6 people). This number reinforces the importance of achieving full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of society and embedding the principles of inclusion, accessibility and non-discrimination in the health sector.   The report stresses the need for urgent action to address the vast inequities in health caused by unjust and unfair factors within health systems. These factors—which account for many of the differences in health outcomes between persons with and without disabilities—could take the form of:   Negative attitudes of healthcare providers, health information in formats that cannot be understood, or difficulties accessing a health centre due to the physical environment, lack of transport or financial barriers.   “Health systems should be alleviating the challenges that people with disabilities face, not adding to them,” said WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “This report shines a light on the inequities that people with disabilities face in trying to access the care they need.”   With an estimated 80% of persons with disabilities living in low- and middle-income countries where health services are limited, addressing health inequities can be challenging. Yet even with limited resources, much can be achieved.   http://www.who.int/news/item/02-12-2022-health-inequities-lead-to-early-death-in-many-persons-with-disabilities http://www.who.int/activities/global-report-on-health-equity-for-persons-with-disabilities   Protection measures needed to support children with disabilities in armed conflict. (OHCHR)   Persons with disabilities, particularly children, are too often left behind in situations of armed conflict and experience serious risks and challenges to flee, protect themselves and access necessities, UN experts warned today, urging States to take protective measures and ensure inclusion and access to assistance.   Ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December, the experts issued the following statement:   “The proliferation of armed conflict across the world continues unabated, with protracted conflicts greatly expanding the impact and scope of harm on civilians and children in particular. People with disabilities are highly vulnerable when conflict erupts due to persistent discrimination, and children with disabilities endure the most serious risks and challenges before, during and after armed conflict.   Inability to flee the fighting, risk of abandonment, lack of access to basic services, such as food, water, shelter, and assistive devices, but also to education and health care and exposure to stigma, discrimination, gender-based violence, psychological harm and poverty are unfortunately common realities for all persons with disabilities in all conflict settings, especially children. The breakdown of services and infrastructure is especially harmful for them, and they often remain invisible when assistance is planned and delivered.   Moreover, outdated and discriminatory practices such as institutionalisation mean children may be abandoned in institutions where risks of human rights abuses are already higher and will have to fend for themselves when caregivers flee the violence.   In addition, grave violations against children can lead to long-term impacts and result in different forms of impairment, posing additional challenges to children’s recovery and reintegration.   The intersection of gender and disability also creates additional risks for girls with disabilities, as they often face sexual violence, trafficking and enslavement during armed conflict, and are disproportionally excluded from education services.   Lack of sustainable psychosocial support and access to mental health services have a deleterious impact on the mental wellbeing of all children who have experienced conflict. This is doubly so for children with disabilities who may have their existing impairment exacerbated or may have acquired a secondary impairment.   In these circumstances and in light of commitments laid out in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the reaffirmation of a requirement to have inclusive protection frameworks during armed conflict set forth by UN Security Council Resolutions 2225, 2475, and 2601, we recommend that States adopt measures to protect persons with disabilities, including children specifically, in order to prevent violations and abuses against them in situations of armed conflict.   We call on States to allow and facilitate safe, timely and unimpeded humanitarian access to persons with disabilities in need of assistance, including children. It is vital to provide timely, sustainable, appropriate, inclusive and accessible assistance in terms of health care, rehabilitation services, early intervention programmes, education, assistive devices, and mental health and psychosocial support on an equal basis with others. In this way, specific reintegration needs can be effectively addressed.   Persons with disabilities must be meaningfully included in humanitarian action as well as in conflict prevention, reconciliation, resolution, reconstruction, and peacebuilding. They are an asset in helping to rebuild societies torn apart by conflict.   We stress the importance of quality and timely data and information to understand how armed conflict affects persons with disabilities, including children. To that end, data collected on violations and abuses against civilians in armed conflict should be disaggregated by disability, gender and age.   Finally, we urge States to undertake measures to end impunity for crimes against civilians, including persons with disabilities, and ensure their access to justice, effective remedies, and, as appropriate, reparation."   * Gerard Quinn, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities; Rosemary Kayess, Chair of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/12/protection-measures-needed-support-children-disabilities-armed-conflict-un http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a77203-report-protection-rights-persons-disabilities-context-military http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/research-papers/protection-persons-disabilities-during-armed-conflict   June 2021   People with disabilities were particularly hard hit by the social and economic impacts of efforts to control COVID-19. (IPS)   At the start of the pandemic, lockdowns, curfews, disruptions in transportation and a halt in tourism sent economies spiralling. In the Caribbean, people with disabilities began experiencing severe delays in public and disability assistance.   “They were relatively small amounts that a lot of people with disabilities rely on to purchase food and other essential supplies, so if this was delayed imagine the great strain and the hardship that it placed on people. It proved that if during times of crisis our social safety nets cannot function, there is a lot of work to be done,” President of Saint Lucia’s National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities, Merphilus James told IPS.   James, who is also the President of Disabled People’s International North America and the Caribbean is also calling for a review of public assistance for people with disabilities.   “Most of our members rely on these payments, which in most cases are not reflective of the current cost of living,” he said, noting that the United Nations Social Policy Brief on the Disability Inclusive Response to COVID-19 recommends advanced disbursement of public assistance grants, to ensure people with disabilities have time to procure food other supplies.   “It’s inexcusable to have delays in the payments of public assistance stipends in times like these.”   Some Governments were able to streamline the payment process and for countries like Saint Lucia, donations were received from religious groups, supermarket chains and the National Emergency Management Organisation.   UN officials say lessons like these underscore the importance of protecting people with disabilities in emergencies.   The 14th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities took place over three days this week, guided by the theme, “Building back better: COVID-19 response and recovery; Meeting the needs, Realising the rights and Addressing the socio-economic impacts on persons with disabilities.”   “Persons with disabilities are among those most adversely impacted by the pandemic, with disproportionate loss of lives and impact on health as well as livelihoods,” said Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights.   The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, with support from the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and UN Women, recently undertook a series of case studies on the socio-economic impact of COVID-19. The results have been described as ‘discouraging.’   “Once again, studies demonstrate that persons with disabilities are being left behind. Be it with regard to equal access to healthcare, social protection, data collection, participation, information and international response, or in terms of the situation of those living in institutionalised settings,” the Assistant Secretary-General said.   According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over one billion people live with some form of disability.   UN officials said this week that COVID-19 has shown the rest of the world what people with disabilities know all too well – isolation, mobility restrictions and challenges accessing basic services. They are hoping that this shared experience has taught important lessons about the impact of exclusion from community life.   One of the areas officials say is in urgent need of reform is access to employment.   The International Labour Organisation, in a landmark report, calculated ‘the price of excluding people with disabilities from the workplace.’ It’s researchers concluded that countries forfeit between three and seven percent of Gross Domestic Product when they omit this pillar of workplace mainstreaming.   James is hoping that employers heed the pandemic’s lessons on remote education and work.   “If we are to empower our people, we must provide them with portable, credible certification through education, so that they are more marketable and can earn a meaningful income. This requires that governments invest in more reliable, affordable internet on small island nations like Saint Lucia. That is crucial. We have a right to information,” he said.   “Ensuring that there is greater employment of people with disabilities is just good business. It is good for the economy and COVID-19 has proven how easy it is for people to work from home and be extremely productive.”   The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted by the General Assembly in 2006. It covers a range of issues including access to buildings, education and health. It also addresses stigma and discrimination.   Earlier this year, the WHO adopted a landmark resolution on disability that vowed to develop a report on the highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities by the end of 2022.   One of the key messages from this week’s meetings is the need to frankly assess how people with disabilities were treated and impacted during a public health crisis. Panelists stressed the need to applaud what went right and address the wrongs such as people with disabilities appearing to be afterthoughts, delayed, yet urgently-needed financial and other support, as well as the impacts of prolonged, heightened isolation.   “It is crucial that we do not just fix what was broken, but that we take an innovative approach to truly implementing pioneering suggestions. COVID-19 has proven that we need to create systems that are not so fragile if we are to cope well in the future against such pandemics,” says James.   http://www.ipsnews.net/2021/06/for-people-with-disabilities-covid-19-lays-bare-the-weaknesses-in-social-safety-nets/ http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/content/covid-19-and-disability-movement http://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2021/12/61aa3eb74/prolonged-covid-19-pandemic-deepens-hardship-12-million-forcibly-displaced.html http://www.iddcconsortium.net/our-work/covid-19-and-disability-inclusion/covid-19-disability-campaigns/ http://voiceofyouth.jp/idpd2021 http://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/exploring-how-people-with-disabilities-have-experienced-the-covid-19-crisis/ http://dsq-sds.org/issue/view/258   http://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/conference-of-states-parties-to-the-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-2/cosp14.html http://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/resources/special-envoy-of-the-secretary-general-on-disability-and-accessibility.html http://bit.ly/3lJKV6w http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/ConventionRightsPersonsWithDisabilities.aspx http://www.disabilityinclusiveclimate.org/news http://internews.org/story/disability-reporting-fellows-win-top-honors-at-annual-journalism-excellence-awards/ http://internews.org/story/reporting-on-people-with-disabilities-leads-to-positive-change/ http://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/big-ideas/there-is-no-justice-without-disability/   * COVID-19 exacerbated existing inequalities – research shows how systems can do better. (IDA): http://bit.ly/3pqPcwv
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