The
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an
international human rights treaty of the
United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with
disabilities. Parties to the Convention are required to promote, protect, and ensure the full enjoyment of
human rights by persons with disabilities and ensure that they enjoy full
equality under the law. The Convention has served as the major catalyst in the global movement from viewing persons with disabilities as objects of charity, medical treatment and social protection towards viewing them as full and equal members of society, with human rights. It is also the only UN human rights instrument with an explicit
sustainable development dimension. The Convention was the first human rights treaty of the third millennium.