Disabilities Convention in Force

The eighth major United Nations human rights treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, entered into force on 3 May 2008. As of 15 May 2008, there have been 129 signatures to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and 71 to the Optional Protocol. Twenty-six countries have ratified the Convention and sixteen countries have ratified the Optional Protocol. For a list of States parties to the two instruments, see: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/disability/docs/listsignatoriesupdated15may.doc. Unfortunately, Ireland is not among them.