What Is the CRPD?
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is the principal international human rights treaty on disability. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 13 December 2006 and entered into force on 3 May 2008. According to the UN Treaty Collection, the Convention has 194 parties, making it one of the most widely ratified UN human rights treaties.
The principle of "Nothing about us without us" is reflected in the Convention itself: Article 4(3) requires States to closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities, through their representative organisations (OPDs), when developing and implementing laws and policies that affect them. The Convention represents a fundamental paradigm shift from a medical/charity model of disability to a social model framework.
The Social Model Foundation
The CRPD is grounded in the social model of disability, which holds that:
- Disability arises from the interaction between a person's impairment and barriers in the environment and society
- Barriers โ not the impairment itself โ are the primary cause of disability-related disadvantage
- The appropriate policy response is to remove barriers rather than to fix or cure the individual
This is reflected in the CRPD's preamble โ which recognises that "disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers" โ and in its definition of persons with disabilities as including "those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others" (Article 1).
Key Articles
Article 4 โ General Obligations
States parties must take all appropriate measures to:
- Adopt legislation ensuring rights in the Convention
- Repeal discriminatory laws, regulations, and practices
- Take account of disability in all policies and programmes
- Promote the development of accessible products, services, and technologies
Article 5 โ Equality and Non-Discrimination
States must recognise that all persons are equal before and under the law and are entitled to equal protection, and must take all appropriate steps to ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided (Article 5(3)). Under Article 2, "discrimination on the basis of disability" expressly includes the denial of reasonable accommodation. This is a critical provision: employers and states who refuse to provide reasonable accommodation are, in the CRPD framework, engaging in disability discrimination.
Article 8 โ Awareness-Raising
States must adopt immediate, effective, and appropriate measures to raise awareness throughout society regarding persons with disabilities, foster respect for their rights and dignity, and combat stereotypes and prejudice.
Article 9 โ Accessibility
States must take appropriate measures to ensure persons with disabilities have access, on an equal basis with others, to:
- The physical environment (buildings, roads, transport)
- Information and communications (including ICT)
- Other facilities and services open to the public
Article 19 โ Independent Living
States must ensure persons with disabilities have the opportunity to choose their place of residence, have access to a range of in-home and residential community support services, and are not obliged to live in particular living arrangements.
Article 27 โ Work and Employment
Article 27 is the core labour market provision. States parties recognise the right of persons with disabilities to work, on an equal basis with others, and must safeguard and promote this right, including for those who acquire a disability during the course of employment. Specific obligations include:
- Prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in all matters concerning all forms of employment
- Protect the right of persons with disabilities to just and favourable conditions of work
- Ensure reasonable accommodation is provided in the workplace
- Employ persons with disabilities in the public sector, and promote employment in the private sector through appropriate policies and measures (which may include affirmative action programmes, incentives and other measures)
- Promote vocational and professional rehabilitation, job retention, and return-to-work programmes
- Ensure that persons with disabilities are not held in slavery or in servitude, and are protected from forced or compulsory labour
- Enable persons with disabilities to have access to general technical and vocational guidance programmes, placement services, and vocational and continuing training
- Promote opportunities for self-employment, entrepreneurship, and cooperative development
- Promote the acquisition of work experience in the open labour market
Article 27 is one of the most comprehensive international statements of disability employment rights. Its requirement of reasonable accommodation, combined with Article 5's characterisation of accommodation denial as discrimination, creates a strong normative framework.
The CRPD Committee
The CRPD is monitored by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which has grown to its maximum size of 18 independent experts elected by states parties (it started with twelve; Article 34). The Committee's functions include:
State Reporting
Each state party must submit a comprehensive initial report within two years after the Convention enters into force for it, and subsequent reports at least every four years (Article 35). The Committee examines the report, engages in constructive dialogue with the state delegation, and issues Concluding Observations โ a list of concerns and recommendations.
Employment-related questions the Convention invites the Committee to examine include:
- Whether the labour market is "open, inclusive and accessible" to persons with disabilities (Article 27)
- Whether reasonable accommodation is ensured in the workplace (Article 27)
- Whether OPDs are closely consulted and actively involved in policy design and implementation (Article 4(3))
- Whether the state collects appropriate statistical and research data to formulate and implement its policies (Article 31)
Optional Protocol โ Individual Communications
The Optional Protocol to the CRPD, which has 110 parties according to the UN Treaty Collection, allows individuals and groups to bring communications (complaints) to the CRPD Committee after exhausting domestic remedies. The Committee can find violations and recommend remedies.
The CRPD and National Law
European Union
The EU formally confirmed (ratified) the CRPD in December 2010, making it binding on the EU and informing the interpretation of EU disability law. In its 2013 HK Danmark judgment, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) held that Directive 2000/78/EC must, as far as possible, be interpreted consistently with the CRPD, and adopted a CRPD-aligned definition of disability for employment discrimination cases.
Nordic Countries
All Nordic countries have ratified the CRPD. Norway ratified in 2013. From 1 January 2026, the CRPD has been incorporated into Norway's Human Rights Act (menneskerettsloven): it applies as Norwegian law and takes precedence if it conflicts with other Norwegian legislation, including the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Act (likestillings- og diskrimineringsloven).
United Kingdom
The UK ratified the CRPD in 2009. Post-Brexit, the UK is no longer subject to EU disability law but remains bound by the CRPD as a state party, including its reporting obligations to the CRPD Committee.
CRPD and the SDGs
The CRPD intersects directly with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
- SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) โ Target 8.5 calls for full and productive employment and decent work for all, "including for young people and persons with disabilities"
- SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) โ Target 10.2 calls for the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of disability
Practical Implications for Employers
- Reasonable accommodation is a right, not a favour. The CRPD framework requires employers (through national law implementing Article 27) to provide effective workplace accommodations. Refusal is discrimination.
- The social model means examining barriers. Before concluding that a person with a disability cannot perform a role, examine what barriers in the job design, environment, or process are creating the difficulty โ and whether those barriers can be removed.
- OPD involvement in workplace design. The CRPD's "nothing about us without us" principle implies that employers should involve disabled employees in designing accommodation processes and workplace accessibility measures, not design them unilaterally.
- Procurement and supply chain. Larger organisations have supply chain influence. Applying accessibility and inclusion requirements to procurement and supplier standards is consistent with Article 27's call for promoting disability employment across the private sector.
Sources
- UN Treaty Collection: status of the CRPD and its Optional Protocol โ https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-15&chapter=4&clang=_en
- UN DESA: CRPD article texts โ https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/article-27-work-and-employment.html
- CJEU: Joined Cases C-335/11 and C-337/11, HK Danmark (2013)
- Government of Norway: CRPD incorporated into Norwegian law (December 2025) โ https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/crpd-gjelder-som-norsk-lov-fra-nyttar/id3144047/
- UN SDGs: Goal 8 and Goal 10 targets โ https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal8
Last reviewed: September 2026.