COSSA Members Advocate for Disabilities Treaty Ratification
In late July, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-6 to move the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on to the full Senate for ratification. The scientific community is mobilizing in support of the Convention, which, among other things, affirms states’ responsibilities to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal opportunity to pursue and enjoy the benefits of scientific progress. COSSA endorsed a statement by the AAAS Board of Directors in support of ratification. In addition, several COSSA members are also urging the Senate to ratify the treaty:
The American Statistical Association (ASA) released a statement calling on the Senate to ratify the Convention:
“ASA supports the people with disabilities who engage in the profession or practice of statistics and the study of disability as a topic of research. Through activities of promoting the education of statistics in schools, increasing the public awareness of statistics, and supporting the use of statistics in making sound public policy, the ASA seeks to help make education, employment, and other opportunities available to all people regardless of disability status.”
The Council of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) adopted a resolution urging the Senate to ratify the treaty:
The resolution reflects AERA’s “longstanding commitment to access of persons with disabilities in the field of education research, in other scientific fields, and in education across the life span.”
The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) adopted a statement in support of ratification:
“As an organization that studies all human languages and advocates for the language rights of all human beings, the LSA is rightfully concerned with the well-being of deaf and hard-of-hearing people, particularly with respect to access to education, medicine, employment, and full participation in civil and personal life. Likewise, the LSA is concerned with the well-being of all people who have a disorder that impacts language ability and use with respect to the same range of rights.”
We will continue to provide updates on COSSA’s and members’ efforts to advance ratification on COSSA’s Science and Human Rights page.