President,
Norway thanks the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities Ms Catalina Devandas-Aguilar for her statement and for presenting her initial report to the Council.
We fully support the vision set out (in the report) for the mandate, as well as the working methods and a work plan described for the first three years.
We share the concern expressed (in the report), that persons with disabilities continue to face barriers in their participation as equal members of society and violations of their human rights in all parts of the world.
As demonstrated by the establishment of this mandate, the global community has over the recent years made good progress in the advancement and the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities. It is important now to build on this momentum.
We are hopeful that the mandate will help further strengthen the United Nations system in its efforts to realize the rights of persons with disabilities. We stand ready to support the special rapporteur in this endevour.
We agree that we must all work together to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities, from a human rights-based approach. We wish to ask the advice of the special rapporteur, in this regard, on what concrete and practical steps governments can take to move towards a human rights-based approach to disability