Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

List of issues in relation to the initial report of Gabon *

A.Purpose and general obligations (arts.1–4)

Definitions (art. 2)

Please clarify why the terms “reasonable accommodation” and “universal design” are absent from the report and if legal definitions of those terms exists.

General obligations (art. 4)

Please provide information on the consultation and active involvement of persons with disabilities, including children, young persons, women, older adults and indigenous persons, in particular from rural areas, in policymaking and information on the monitoring and assessment commission on social development.

Please also provide information on measures taken to bring national legislation into line with the Convention and demonstrate the application of the Convention’s articles in domestic law, including the elimination of stigmatizing terminology, in particular that referring to persons with psychosocial disabilities as “aliénés” (“insane”) and the adoption of the human rights model of disability in legislation and policies.

B.Specific rights

Equality and non-discrimination (art. 5)

Please provide an update on the introduction of disability anti-discrimination law, the establishment of a mechanism dedicated to dealing with cases of discrimination and reform of labour laws to end discrimination in the workplace.

What legal remedies and sanctions currently exist and are being envisaged to uphold the prohibition of disability-based discrimination?

Women with disabilities (art. 6)

Concerning the recent launch, in April 2015, of the Decade of Women in Gabon 2015–2025, what programmes and actions are planned to address the rights of women and girls with disabilities across the country and how are they and their representative organizations actively involved in and closely consulted on the design of programmes and actions and their monitoring and evaluation?

Please provide an update regarding the implementation of social policies to allocate resources for women and children with disabilities, including those living in rural areas and belonging to indigenous populations (pygmy communities) and ethnic minorities.

Please provide updated information regarding the review of provisions that discriminate against women and the steps being taken to ensure that the National Strategy on Equality and Gender Equity mainstreams the rights of women and girls with disabilities across all actions and sectors.

Children with disabilities (art. 7)

What specific steps have been taken since 2002 to implement the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to review the situation of children with disabilities in terms of their access to suitable health care, education services and employment opportunities; allocate adequate resources to strengthen services for children with disabilities, to support their families and for training of professionals in the field; and sensitize the population to the human rights of children with disabilities (see CRC/C/15/Add.171, paras. 50 (b), (c) and (e))?

How are children with disabilities given support and opportunities to express their views and exercise their right to be heard, including in consultations in the drafting of laws and policies?

Awareness-raising (art. 8)

What initiatives have been conducted, in consultation with organizations of persons with disabilities, targeting the general public, persons with disabilities, organizations of persons with disabilities, the media, employers, health and educational professionals to foster the human rights model of disability and to overcome entrenched gender and disability stereotypes?

Accessibility (art. 9)

Please provide an update on what is being done to promote accessibility to public and private institutions, to implement legislation on and promote the practical application of measures to increase accessibility in public buildings and to ensure accessibility to the wider built environment, in particular with regard to new buildings and constructions and transportation, as well as information and communications technology.

Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies (art. 11)

Please provide information on measures to include persons with disabilities in disaster risk reduction strategies and policies.

Equal recognition before the law (art. 12)

Are there plans to repeal domestic laws to abolish substituted decision-making and guardianship regimes and to introduce supported decision-making for persons with psychosocial disabilities and all other individuals with disabilities?

Liberty and security of the person (art. 14)

Please provide information on the number of persons who have been involuntarily detained in institutions on the basis of their impairment.

Access to justice (art. 13)

Please provide information on measures to address accessibility to the justice system, including physical access, legal aid and sign-language interpreters in courtrooms, as well as to ensure procedural accommodations.

What training is being carried out to raise the level of awareness among personnel of the justice and law and order sectors?

Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse (art. 16)

What kinds of projects are being developed to draft a law on violence against women and to ensure that women and girls with disabilities are included in the process of consultation in the lead-up to drafting the law?

Please provide information on services for persons with disabilities experiencing violence, including in rural areas, and training for police officers, court officials, social workers, health professionals and other interlocutors working with those experiencing violence to raise their awareness about the rights of persons with disabilities.

Liberty of movement and nationality (art.18)

Please provide the estimated number of persons with disabilities who have not been registered at birth or been given a name and a nationality.

Please provide information on whether all persons with disabilities can freely move and choose their place of residence.

Living independently and being included in the community (art. 19)

Please provide information about plans to develop community-based services aimed at enabling persons with disabilities to live and participate in the community with choices equal to others.

Freedom of expression and access to information and communication (art. 21)

Please provide information on the availability of mass media to persons with disabilities in accessible and usable formats, such as Braille, sign language and easy read, and the steps being taken to officially recognize Gabonese sign language in the law.

Respect for the home and family (art. 23)

What steps are being taken to revise the Civil Code and remove the restriction for persons with psychosocial disabilities (“aliénés interdits”) from marrying on an equal basis with others? In addition, what support measures exist to ensure that mothers of children with disabilities are not stigmatized?

Education (art. 24)

Please provide information on the number of children with disabilities in public State schools at both the primary and secondary levels, as well as clarification regarding medical examinations that determine the degree of impairment and the enrolment of the child in a State school. In addition, please clarify the provision of reduced school fees for children with disabilities and the provision of free State-school education.

Please provide updated information on progress made to include children with disabilities into mainstream education and on efforts to train teachers. Specifically, please include disaggregated data on inclusion at all levels of education and according to type of impairment.

Health (art.25)

Please provide information on access to public health education and health services, in particular community-based health services, including HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health services, including in rural areas.

Habilitation and rehabilitation (art. 26)

What are the plans for the technical commission on habilitation and rehabilitation to address harmonization and coordination between authorities to provide adequate health services to persons with disabilities, especially at a community level?

Work and employment (art. 27)

Please provide updated information on the implementation of Act No.19/95 and any other measure aimed at promoting the employment of persons with disabilities. Please include information on monitoring compliance and enforcing sanctions, as well as information regarding the certification of persons with disabilities as being fit for employment.

Please provide statistics regarding the number of persons with disabilities in paid employment or self-employment in comparison with the general population.

Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport (art. 30)

What policies are in place to support sports associations for persons with disabilities?

Participation in political and public life (art. 29)

Please provide information on measures envisioned to revise the Electoral Code and to eliminate discriminatory provisions that restrict the right of persons with disabilities to vote, including those subjected to “interdiction” or any other kind of deprivation of legal capacity.

C.Special obligations

Statistics and data collection (art. 31)

What measures and timetable are in place to systematically collect data disaggregated by sex, age, disability, indigenous identity (such as pygmies) and geographic location in order to enable the State party to fulfil its obligations under the Convention?

International cooperation (art. 32)

Please provide information on the implementation of the eight Millennium Development Goals in relation to persons with disabilities.

National implementation and monitoring (art. 33)

Please provide information on the measures to establish the National Committee for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities (foreseen in Decree No. 152/PR/MSNASBE of 4 February 2002). Could you please clarify the role of this Committee in relation to article 33 (1) of the Covenant?

Please provide information on measures taken to designate or establish an independent monitoring mechanism, including measures to include the participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations.