Joint EMPL-PETI-LIBE delegation to United Nations Headquarters, New York
27-06-2023 - 15:31
From Tuesday 13 June to Thursday 15 June, a joint delegation of 7 MEPs, representing EMPL, LIBE and PETI committees, led by Dragoş PÎSLARU MEP (EMPL Chair), attended the 16th session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the COSP CRPD) that took place at the United Nations Headquarters, New York. The delegation had a number of bilateral meetings with high-ranking UN officials, diplomats, representatives of the civil society.
The delegation exchanged views and discussed possible ways to better implement the CRPD and advance the rights of persons with disabilities within the EU and worldwide. Topics of this year were the sexual and reproductive health services, digital accessibility and reaching the under-represented groups of persons with disabilities. It was first-of-its-kind side event at the UN, co-organised by the European Parliament and the permanent Mission of Greece to UN, entitled "Building up a disability-inclusive democracy: innovative parliamentary policies and structures to advance rights for persons with disabilities." The MEPs stressed the importance of parliamentary monitoring and supervision in the implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities, while working together at the EU level with Commissioner Helena Dalli as Team Europe, to which important advances have been made in the past year and were reflected in the good cooperation at and around COSP16 this week, notably.