UN Rapporteur postpones UK visit to hear austerity testimony

A UN human rights expert has had to postpone a visit to London to hear disabled people’s testimony about how government cuts and reforms are affecting their lives.

Shuaib Chalklen, the UN’s special rapporteur on disability – whose job is to monitor progress around the world towards equal opportunities – was to launch a major human rights report in parliament and hear evidence direct from disabled people at an event in north London.

The events will still go ahead, and organisers are hoping Chalklen will visit London to launch the report at a future date, while the testimony will be recorded and passed to his office.

Both events were to be organised by Just Fair, a new charity working to use human rights to combat poverty and inequality and to secure social justice, but will now be headed by two disabled people’s organisations, Inclusion London and Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC).

On Monday (25 November), disabled people will give their personal stories of how they have been affected by the government’s austerity measures.

The next day, instead of a launch of the Just Fair report, Inclusion London and DPAC will head an “emergency” parliamentary meeting on the future of independent living for disabled people and the Independent Living Fund, from 4pm.

The event will include the showing of a film by campaigning journalists Kate Belgrave, from the website False Economy, and Ros Wynne-Jones, from the Daily Mirror, titled A Day In The Life Without ILF.

DNS