Persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities experience multiple legal, institutional, communicational and social barriers to exercise their political and civic rights. A central challenge is that persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities are often denied or restricted their legal capacity. The Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has called upon UN Member States to “take immediate measures to reform their legal framework to ensure the right to legal capacity of all persons with disabilities” and allow for reform processes that enable the establishment of supported decision-making arrangements.
The objective of this project is to identify good practices on legal capacity reform and supported decision-making arrangements as they relate to the right to participate in political and public life. It will seek to identify key policy recommendations for different stakeholders (parliamentarians, electoral administrators, DPOs and family organizations, CSOs, as well as the United Nations staff supporting countries on inclusive political processes) to advance political participation of persons with disabilities in political and public life. It envisages a process of consultation with DPOs, policy makers, and other practitioners to capture different country experiences regarding legal capacity reform and document and systematize practical experiences with formal and informal supported decision-making arrangements. The result will be a short document with practical guidance that can later be used by duty bearers, civil society organizations, as well as the UN staff.