Professor Michael Stein Addresses U.N. Security Council

On Monday, December 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Professor Michael Stein of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability addressed the United Nations Security Council on the situation of persons with disabilities in armed conflict.

The objective of the meeting was to recognize the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on persons with disabilities and to discuss how to ensure a more inclusive and participatory, human rights-based approach towards persons with disabilities during conflicts, reflect on possible measures to implement adequate solutions and emergency responses in conflict zones, and reconsider the role of the Security Council and the wider United Nations system in this regard.

This Arria-formula meeting was organized and sponsored by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Poland to the United Nations, in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Cote D’Ivoire, Germany, Kuwait and Peru, as well as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and the International Disability Alliance.

Speakers also included the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, the UN Special Rapporteur on Disability, and a representative of OCHA.