A/HRC/16/38 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 13/11, the Council requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) “to prepare a study to enhance awareness of the role played by international cooperation in support of national efforts for the realization of the purpose and objectives of the Convention, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, including States, regional organizations, including regional integration organizations, the Special Rapporteur on Disability of the Commission for Social Development, civil society organizations, including persons with disabilities, and national human rights institutions”. 2. As a first step in implementing the mandate, OHCHR sent a note verbale to States and a letter to national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, United Nations agencies and to the Special Rapporteur on Disability, seeking contributions to the study. As a result, OHCHR received 43 responses from States, eight from inter-governmental organizations and regional organizations, 15 from national human rights institutions, 11 from civil society organizations, a contribution from the Global Partnership for Disability and Development, and a submission from the Special Rapporteur on Disability. Annex 1 sets out a full list of respondents and all submissions are available on the OHCHR website1 II. International cooperation and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 3. International cooperation is an important element in realizing the full enjoyment of human rights. United Nations Member States under the Charter have committed to achieve international cooperation to promote and encourage respect for human rights2 and treaties such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child oblige States parties to those instruments to take steps, using the maximum available resources, individually and through international cooperation to realize economic, social and cultural rights3 . 4. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities also recognizes that international cooperation has a role in promoting, protecting and ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities. The preamble refers to the “importance of international cooperation for improving the living conditions of persons with disabilities in every country, particularly in developing countries”. In its operative paragraphs, the Convention stipulates with regard to economic, social and cultural rights that “each State Party undertakes to take measures to the maximum of its available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international cooperation, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of these rights, without prejudice to those obligations contained in the present Convention that are immediately applicable according to international law”4. Article 32 of the Convention goes further and includes a stand-alone article on international cooperation, underlining the importance of international cooperation and development to the full realization of the rights of persons with disabilities5. 1 2 3 4 5 See www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/disability/submissions_study.htm. United Nations Charter, arts. 1, para.3, 55 and 56. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 2(1); Convention on the Rights of the Child, arts. 4 and 23(4). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, art. 4(2). Ibid, art. 32. 3