The Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations in Geneva and the Italian Red Cross have filed a joint submission to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), as part of the public consultation on the draft General Comments on Article 11 of the Convention, dedicated to the protection of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including humanitarian emergencies, disasters and armed conflicts.
The submission puts forward observations and recommendations aimed at promoting an interpretation of Article 11 that strengthens the practical implementation of obligations already provided for under the Convention, fostering closer coordination with international humanitarian law and with the principal international instruments on disaster risk management and emergency response.
It also draws attention to a number of relevant Italian good practices, including the Guidelines developed by the Italian Defence General Staff and the Italian Red Cross on the protection of persons with disabilities in situations of armed conflict, as well as the 2025 Operational Guidelines of the Italian Civil Protection Department on inclusive emergency planning.
The drafting of the document was preceded by an Expert Meeting organised in Geneva by the Permanent Mission and the Italian Red Cross, which brought together representatives of United Nations entities, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, academia and civil society, fostering a broad technical exchange on the content of the two draft General Comments.
The joint submission to the CRPD Committee and the Chair’s Summary of the Expert Meeting of 6 July are available at the following links:
CRPD submission Italy ItRC Comments FINAL
