After four years at the head of the Office of the Secretary of State for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities, the former Secretary of State, Michel A. Péan, very concerned to significantly change the living conditions of people with special needs and work to their integration in all spheres of social life, the former Secretary of State, is the sole authority of the Caribbean to submit his candidacy to be elected as a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, scheduled for September 2012.

The election will be conducted by all members who voted for the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted on December 13, 2006 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The latter was opened to the signature on March 30, 2007.

"This is the first great treatise of the twenty-first century in the field of human rights and this is the first Convention of Human Rights to be open to the signature of regional integration organizations. This marks a 'change' in attitudes and the strategies towards disabled people [...] Contrary to what people think, who believe that Haiti is the last in regard to the issue of disability, let me say that Haiti has signed this Convention before some major countries of the world. Globally, Haiti plays an important role in disability issues. If I access to the post this will help tremendously to the influence of Haiti," said Dr. Péan.

According to former Secretary of State, the country that did not vote the ratification will not be entitled to vote for the election of committee. Currently, 20 personalities from Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America are candidates for the 6 open positions on the Committee.

Supporting the candidature of Dr. Péan, the Office of the Secretary of State for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities invited everyone to "support the candidature of Dr. Péan, who was able to implement the vision of a society where everyone, disabled or not, has a role and rights," clarified in a note, Gérald Oriol, Jr. the current Secretary of State.

Note that the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a body composed of independent experts that monitors the implementation of the Convention by the States Parties. Each State must presents to the Committee a detailed report on the measures it has taken to fulfill its obligations under the present Convention and on the progress achieved in this regard, within a period of two years from the date of entry into force of the Convention for the State Party concerned.

HL/ HaitiLibre