The Rights of Disabled Persons According to the United Nations

On December 9, 1975, at its 243rd session, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons as a common foundation and framework for the protection of these rights:

1. The term "disabled person" means any person unable to ensure, wholly or partly, the requirements of a normal individual and/or social life as a consequence of a deficiency, congenital or otherwise, in his or her physical or mental capacities.
2. Disabled persons shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration. These rights shall apply to all disabled persons without exception or discrimination based on race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, economic circumstances, birth, or any other condition relating to the disabled person or his or her family.
3. Disabled persons are entitled to respect for their inherent human dignity. Regardless of the origin, nature, or severity of their impairments and disabilities, they possess the same fundamental rights as their fellow citizens of the same age, which includes above all the right to enjoy a decent, full, and normal life to the greatest extent possible.
4. Disabled persons have the same civil and political rights as all other human beings.
5. Disabled persons have the right to measures designed to enable them to become self-sufficient.
6. They are entitled to medical, psychological, and functional care, including prosthetic and orthopedic devices; to rehabilitation; to medical and social assistance; to employment placement services; and to other services that enable them to develop their capacities and aptitudes to the fullest and that can accelerate their integration or reintegration into society.
7. They have the right to economic and social security and to a decent standard of living. They have the right to obtain and maintain employment suited to their capacities, or to engage in a useful, productive, and remunerative occupation, and to join labor unions.
8. Their special needs shall be taken into account at all levels of economic and social planning.
9. Disabled persons have the right to live with their families and guardians and to participate in all social, creative, and recreational activities. No disabled person shall be subjected, with respect to his or her residence, to different treatment except that which is required by his or her condition or by improvements that may result from it.
10. Disabled persons must be protected from all forms of exploitation, from any discriminatory, abusive, or degrading treatment or provision.
11. They must have access to qualified legal assistance when such assistance is essential for the protection of their person or property. If legal proceedings are brought against them, the procedures followed must give full consideration to their physical and mental condition.
12. Organizations of disabled persons may be usefully consulted on all matters concerning the rights of disabled persons.
13. Disabled persons, their families, and communities shall be thoroughly informed, by all appropriate means, of the rights contained in this Declaration.