Read the full success story by Lindsay Kathryn Lucenko on the LSJ News page. Start reading below…
“Megan McCloskey, a PhD student at the UW School of Law and lecturer in the Law, Societies, and Justice Department, along with a group of UW undergraduate students have been working on a major project for the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This committee is in the process of preparing a comment on Article 11 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Article 11 concerns the obligations of States Parties to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies, and natural disasters. The United Nations’ comment will serve as an advisory opinion while providing states with guidance on key concepts such as what defines a ‘situation of risk’ as well as the multiple bases within international humanitarian law, international environmental law, and international human rights law underpinning state duties. At the request of the Secretariat to the Committee, UW students have been developing background briefing materials to support the Committee as part of the UW Disability Inclusive Development Initiative (DIDI).
Last winter, the Committee sought public opinion regarding the comment. Over 100 stakeholders submitted written and/or oral comments totaling about 1,000 pages of material in different languages. The UW team – Toby Gallant, Sara Sprague, Elle Skvarna, Juliette Lanser, Stephanie Phillips, and Corinne Herzog – thoroughly examined all the submissions, which included transcripts of oral inputs. They processed each submission using a template endorsed by the Committee Secretariat and crafted a comprehensive analysis of the main themes found throughout the submissions. These students also worked on identifying topics that were underdeveloped or unconsidered.
I spoke to Sara Sprague, a senior in the LSJ major (also a double major in political science, and a double minor in environmental studies and labor studies), about her experience working on this incredible project. Sara first met Megan McCloskey through a study abroad program in Spain, where the group worked on disability initiatives in Spain.
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