June 20, 2021 6:00 a.m.
A professor from the University of Windsor has been nominated by the Canadian government for election to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
Prof. Laverne Jacobs is Associate Professor and Associate Dean of the University’s Faculty of Law. She is known for her expertise in the areas of disability equality and law, human rights and administrative law.
“It is an absolute honor to be nominated by the Canadian government as the first candidate for the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” said Jacobs. “As a member of the disabled community, I am also happy about the prospect of participating in their work. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an important international instrument for the implementation and specification of the rights of people with disabilities worldwide. I look forward to contributing to this process and am very pleased with this nomination. “
MP Irek Kusmierczyk said this is the first time Canada has put a candidate for the committee. The committee has 18 seats, nine of which will be filled at the Conference of the States Parties to the Convention in New York in June 2022.
There will be an international campaign to promote Canada’s candidates for the committee.
As a member of the Ontario Human Rights Court, Jacobs has adjudicated and mediated discrimination cases. She also authored the legal background review for the Accessible Canada Act and advised national disability organizations on the interpretation of the CRPD and its application to Canadian law.
“I am also a person with a disability acquired from a spinal cord injury and a black woman. Therefore, I approach disability equality issues from a perspective that is aware of the importance and challenges of understanding intersectional levels of discrimination and is willing to do this work carefully, thoroughly and impartially, ”said Jacob.
If elected, Jacobs will be the first Canadian ever to sit on the CRPD committee, and her term will run from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2026.
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