Often when human rights are discussed the needs of the world’s largest minority group are ignored or simply not recognized. As bloggers unite today to bring attention to human rights around the world, its important to remember those with disabilities, especially those living in under-developed nations across the globe.

Statistics tell us that there are at least 650 million people with disabilities in the world today. And, because of ongoing advances in medicine and the availability of healthcare, that number is expected to continue to increase. Further, we know that disability has a powerful impact on family members as they can often become caregivers for the individual with the disability. Include the people effected by disability and we know that over two billion people around the world are impacted directly by disability. That’s one-third of the entire population on Earth.

Unfortunately, a significant number of people across the globe live in poverty. Those living with disabilities are often impacted even more directly by economic hardship. They lack the technology, accessibility and basic services that many of us take for granted. Even in developed countries such as the United States, Canada and nations in the United Kingdom we find that significant numbers of people with disabilities live in difficult situations.

Recent disasters including the earthquake in China and the cyclone that effected Myanmar have resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. What we aren’t hearing about are the tens of thousands who will live with disabilities including illness and limb loss to name just a few. Unfortunately, many of these who have been effected by these disasters already lived in difficult circumstances that will now be complicated by these new challenges.

There are a number of organizations and partnerships across the globe working to provide advocacy for people with disabilities and their families. They also work closely with governments, the United Nations and other organizations to bring attention to disability concerns. Some of these organizations include Disabled Peoples' International, the International Disability Alliance, Inclusion International, the World Blind Union, the World Federation of the Deaf and many others.

Without a doubt, the most significant advance in relation to human rights and people with disabilities has been the recent Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, the first United Nations treaty of the 21st century. The CRPD recently came into effect and will help to advance the rights of people with disabilities around the world.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international treaty that identifies the rights of persons with disabilities as well as the obligations of supporting nations to the Convention to promote, protect and ensure those rights. The Convention also establishes two implementation mechanisms: the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, established to monitor implementation, and the Conference of States Parties, established to consider matters regarding implementation.

UN members negotiated the Convention with the participation of civil society organizations, national human rights institutions and inter-governmental organizations. The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on December 13, 2006 and it was opened for signature on March 30, 2007. On May 3, 2008 the treaty came in to effect, one month after the 20th nation ratified the document. States that ratify the Convention are legally bound to respect the standards in the Convention. For other States, the Convention represents an international standard that they should Endeavour to respect. You can learn more about the CRPD by visiting the Ratify Now web site. In addition, you can listen to an extensive interview discussing the CRPD from DisabilityNation by clicking here.

With the negotiation of the CRPD and the growing list of nations who have ratified it, it is hoped that governments around the world will continue to grow in awareness of the needs of people with disabilities and their understanding that basic human rights extend to everyone.