Social Structures
Author: Iryna Tekuchova, PhD Researcher, Department of Law, Maynooth University
The health application on my phone notified me that, within the three days that comprised the 15th session of the UN Conference of State Parties to the CRPD (the UN COSP 15), I walked 18 km. And these 18 km, 23687 steps, were made only in the New York UN Headquarters: a 39-floor building located on 17 acres of land, with the General Assembly Hall capable of accommodating 1158 country delegates and hundreds of NGO representatives. So, what is the UN COSP, and what is behind its agenda that turns you into an ‘athlete’?
The United Nations (UN) human rights treaty system consists of nine treaties. Each treaty provides that State Parties meet at the UN Conference of State Parties (the UN COSP), a main decision-making instrument of a treaty, to elect members of treaty bodies called Committees. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the Committee) widely uses this instrument not only for electoral purposes but also for considering ‘any matter with regard to the implementation of the Convention’ as provided in Article 40 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD/the Convention).
The 1st session of the UN COSP to the CRPD was held in 2008, where the State Parties adopted the Provisional rules of procedure for the Conference and established the Committee. Since then, the State Parties have been holding an annual three-day meeting in New York, discussing various matters related to the Convention and electing Committee members biennially.
The UN COSP agenda has quite an established structure which includes a session devoted to the election of the members of the Committee, General Debates, round-table discussions organized by the UN, and side-events organized by accredited participants to the UN COSP.
I was invited by the Ukrainian OPD Fight For Right to participate in the UN COSP 15 as a moderator of the side-event ‘Leading Emergency Response in Ukraine: From People with Disabilities for People with Disabilities’. It is worth noting that individuals can participate at the UN COSP if they are affiliated to, or invited by, an accredited entity or an entity with observer status, or other eligible institution (see the Provisional rules of procedure for the Conference). The registration process at the UN COSP is quite simple. I registered through the platform Indico, which took me around five minutes. However, the real challenge is not the registration but the deadlines.
The deadlines at the UN COSP are often so tight that eventually, they might turn your business trip into an ‘adventure’. I received the approval for the side event slot at the UN COSP 15 less than one month before the event. Beyond the potential financial burden, a person might face while organizing their trip on such short notice, the trip itself might not happen if a participant cannot get a visa to travel to the USA. Usually, the process of obtaining a visa takes several months. This year, due to the overload of applications caused by COVID-19, it takes on average from six months to one year, depending on the Embassy. Many participants had to join the UN COSP 15 online or skip it because of this logistic issue. I received my visa in time, just 5 hours before the departure of my flight, but only thanks to the American partners facilitating the process.
Such a short deadline often impacts the conduct of side-events. This year, due to the hybrid format of the UN COSP 15, all side-events organized by NGOs had to take place outside the premises of the UN building, which became an additional challenge. The venue, technical support, accessibility, and invitations became the sole responsibility of the organizers. As a result, all side-events were conducted online. There were no ‘heroes’ who would dare to organize an in-person event on another continent in less than a month.
Such deadlines teach you to adjust, adapt, and improvise. This year, the speakers received approval to speak at the General debates’ session of the UN COSP 15 one day before the session. Thus, I witnessed many of the selected speakers proofread and amend their speech already in the UN building while listening to opening remarks or having small talks with other participants.
Regardless of the tight deadlines, uncertainties, and other challenges, I would highly recommend visiting the UN COSP to get a chance to listen and be heard. If you would like to speak out about human rights or make a statement for the world to listen to, you will hardly find a more suitable place for it. The General Assembly Hall, gathering State parties’ delegations from across the world, intergovernmental organizations, and NGOs, might become your tribune for three minutes ahead of the General debates. Alternatively, or additionally, you can organize a more in-depth discussion with the invited speakers and the UN COSP audience as part of a side-event, bearing in mind that your topic must fall within the overarching theme of the Conference of that particular year. The overarching theme usually reflects the most relevant concern or problem in the world regarding the rights of people with disabilities and includes two to four sub-themes, which are published in advance on the UN DESA webpage. However, even if your side-event slot or your intervention at the General debates’ session isn’t approved, you should still visit the UN COSP for networking.
Networking makes you run between the UN rooms, floors, building sections, and elevators. UN COSP is a unique opportunity to meet in one place the world leaders, experts, and influencers in your field of interest from all continents. Experienced participants of the UN COSP plan all their meetings in advance, and sometimes down to the minute, by taking the following steps: sending invitations to the stakeholders for a private audience between, before, and after the main sessions, arranging joint activities, and even planning where and how they can have a small talk with stakeholders. The chances that you might accidentally meet a particular person in the lobby, cafeteria, or corridors are meager. During these three days of the UN COSP, the building is filled with thousands of participants.
My main takeaway from the UN COSP 15 was a better understanding of what the UN COSP is and how participants can profit from it. I constantly got lost in the building, mixed the elevators, searched for an exit, and circled the floors. This blog post will certainly not prevent you from finding yourself in this situation, but I hope it will help you better navigate the bureaucratic labyrinths of the UN COSP.
This blog post has been written within the remit of the project ‘Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity through European Union Law: Exploring New Paths – DANCING’. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No 864182).