From Having a Seat to Having a Say: European Organisations of Persons With Disabilities in the International Monitoring of the Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities

The PhD thesis focuses on the participation of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities from European countries (European OPDs) in three United Nations (UN) human rights mechanisms and procedures related to monitoring the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). This research aims to answer the main research question: whether and if so, how have European OPDs effectively participated in the UN human rights mechanisms, with a view to monitoring the national implementation of human rights in alignment with the CRPD? The research also presents three in-depth country studies of Denmark, France, and Hungary, which illustrate the participation of OPDs in specific contexts.

The research findings suggest that the participation experience of European OPDs varies across the European countries examined, and their participation on a national level has often been tokenistic, which contradicts the requirements and principles set in the CRPD. However, the European OPDs have effectively utilised the UN mechanisms for disability rights advocacy and played a vital role in promoting the implementation of human rights among European countries.