A/HRC/28/37 own funds. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities repeatedly calls on States to allocate adequate resources for support services that enable persons with disabilities to live in their communities.33 42. Austerity measures have had a significant negative impact on the financing and provision of support in many countries. Measures have included direct budget cuts, closure and merging of services, delivery of more standardized and/or institutional services, cuts in staffing and conditions, cuts in independent-living support, delays in payments from the public to the non-profit sector, postponement of reforms, longer waiting lists and increased privatization of services.34 In some cases, independent-living funds have been closed entirely to new applicants, hence drastically reducing the number of recipients of personal budgets. Austerity measures raise important concerns in relation to the States’ obligations of non-retrogression,35 non-discrimination and compliance with minimum core obligations. C. Availability of community services and facilities 43. Persons with disabilities must be allowed access to mainstream community services and facilities to fully enjoy their right to live independently and be included in the community. Article 19 (c) requires States parties to ensure that community services and facilities for the general population are available on an equal basis to persons with disabilities and are responsive to their needs. This is to be interpreted broadly to cover all services and facilities provided for in society, and can include, by way of illustration, the rights to attend a community school, to use the general transport system and to have access to work in the open job market depending on individual aspirations and qualifications. In combination with specific support services, the availability of community services and facilities is also essential for successful deinstitutionalization. 44. Article 19 (c) flows from the general principles of article 3, in particular those of full and effective participation and inclusion in society and of respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity. Building an inclusive community requires (a) the removal of barriers; (b) systemic transformation of mainstream services in society; and (c) an inclusive process in which persons with disabilities are actively involved. 45. Obligations under article 9 of the Convention include taking appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public. Contributions from all regions show advances in the adaptation of public buildings and facilities, roads and transportation, to enhance accessibility. Other measures include the revision of building control acts and urban planning codes, the modification of the information environment, and the inclusion of standards of universal design in a variety of sectors. Measures have also been adopted in the housing sector to ensure that new dwellings are built according to accessibility standards and that persons with disabilities are included in social housing schemes. 33 34 35 See, for instance, the Committee’s concluding observations on Australia (CRPD/C/AUS/CO/1), Austria (CRPD/C/AUT/CO/1), Argentina (CRPD/C/ARG/CO/1), China (CRPD/C/CHN/CO/1 and Corr.1), Hungary (CRPD/C/HUN/CO/1), Peru (CRPD/C/PER/CO/1), Spain (CRPD/C/ESP/CO/1) and the Republic of Korea (CRPD/C/KOR/CO/1). See Harald Hauben et al., “Assessing the impact of European governments’ austerity plans on the rights of people with disabilities” (European Foundation Centre, 2012). See for instance Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 19 (2007) on the right to social security, paras. 42 and 64. 13