UN General Assembly
2003

Secretariat support, pursuant to resolution 57/273. At the second meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee to consider proposals for a comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities, it was decided to create a working group to prepare and submit a draft text for negotiation among Member States and accredited observers. Panama’s position is represented in the Declaration of Quito of 11 April 2003, which, in brief, called for promoting and protecting the rights and dignity of the 600 million persons living with disabilities around the world, the great majority of whom suffer constantly from poverty and lack of understanding. The international convention that we seek, as noted in the Declaration, must reflect “the universality, indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights and the principle of non-discrimination.” These concepts are thoroughly established in the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international human rights agreements and other related instruments. It is timely to refer here to the persistent and growing worldwide HIV/AIDS pandemic. Latin