A/HRC/43/41 That includes the need to support and safeguard the child’s right to decide who he or she will become in the future. 42 46. The active participation of persons with disabilities in decision-making is a requirement of the human rights model of disability. Participation is addressed as a crosscutting issue in the Convention; it is recognized as a general principle (art. 3 (c)) and as an obligation for consulting and actively involving persons with disabilities in decisionmaking processes of their concerns (arts. 4 (3) and 33 (3)). Efforts to involve persons with disabilities in decision-making processes are important, not only because they result in better decisions and more efficient outcomes, but also because they promote citizenship, agency and empowerment (see A/HRC/31/62). B. Human rights obligations of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 47. Many human rights obligations of the Convention are relevant to medical and scientific debates concerning persons with disabilities from a human rights-based approach to disability. Article 8 recognizes the important role of awareness-raising for the implementation of human rights by providing for the adoption of immediate, effective and appropriate measures to raise awareness throughout society regarding persons with disabilities and to foster respect for their rights and dignity; combat stereotypes, prejudices and harmful practices used against them; and promote awareness of their capabilities and contributions. In article 8 (2), a set of measures to this end are recommended, including initiating and maintaining effective public awareness campaigns and promoting awarenesstraining programmes regarding persons with disabilities and the rights of persons with disabilities. Article 21 complements those obligations by recognizing the freedom of persons with disabilities to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others. 48. Article 10 recognizes and protects the right to life of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others, which is critical for contesting legislation, policies and practices whereby the lives of persons with disabilities have been put at risk because of perceived low quality of life. It reaffirms that every human being has the inherent right to life, which reflects the concern expressed in the Convention to consider the lives of persons with disabilities as being as valuable as those of any other human being. Article 10 calls on States to take “all necessary measures to ensure the effective enjoyment of the right to life by persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others”. That entails a duty to protect the lives of persons with disabilities from all acts and omissions that are intended or may be expected to cause their unnatural or premature death, 43 as well as ensuring respect, dignity and quality of life of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others in all spheres and at all stages of life. The right to life includes the right to survive and develop on equal basis with others. Disability cannot be a justification for termination of life. 49. Article 12 enshrines equal recognition before the law so that all persons with disabilities enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others. Legal capacity is recognized as a universal attribute inherent in all persons by virtue of their humanity. 44 Accordingly, States cannot restrict the legal capacity of persons with disabilities and must rather protect them against any interference in all aspects of life (see A/HRC/37/56). In article 12 the role of support in the actual implementation of the right to legal capacity is emphasized by establishing an obligation to provide persons with disabilities with access to the support they may require in exercising their legal capacity, including decisions regarding medical treatment and research. The recognition of full legal capacity and supported decisionmaking are necessary steps for providing persons with disabilities with the freedom and opportunity to live the lives they value, which must be a basic premise in all medical and scientific research and practice. 42 43 44 12 Ibid. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 36 (2018) on the right to life (replacing general comment Nos. 6 and 14), para. 3. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 1 (2014) on equal recognition before the law, para. 8.