A/HRC/31/62 61. Representative organizations of persons with disabilities should promote the participation of women and girls with disabilities, as well as that of persons with disabilities from all population groups, as active members, in a spirit of pluralism and inclusiveness. While representative organizations of persons with disabilities may have different agendas and different engagement at various levels of government, this multiplicity of interests and strategies should not lead to the exclusion of specific groups of persons with disabilities. Only by embracing its diversity will the disability movement find its strength. C. 1. Promoting consultation and the active involvement of persons with disabilities Legal framework 62. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires States to adopt all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures to ensure effective and active participation by persons with disabilities in public decision-making. This entails recognizing the right of persons with disabilities to both participation and association, as well as the right of organizations of persons with disabilities to represent persons with disabilities at the national, regional and local levels. States must also adopt a legal framework conducive to the direct and indirect participation of persons with disabilities in law and policymaking, amending or repealing legislation, regulations, customs and practices that limit the ability of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations to participate. The participation of persons with disabilities in public life must be a cross-cutting principle of good governance. 63. National legal frameworks must explicitly require that State authorities consult closely with and actively involve persons with disabilities (including women and children with disabilities) through their representative organizations, in the development and implementation of legislation and policies concerning issues relating to them. This requires prior consultations and engagement with representative organizations of persons with disabilities at all stages of public decision-making, including before the adoption of legislation, policies and programmes that affect them. This duty stretches beyond consultation and access to public decision-making spaces and moves into the areas of partnership, delegated power and citizen control. 64. Importantly, the phrase “concerning issues relating to persons with disabilities”, as referred to in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, should be understood broadly, to cover a wide range of legislative, administrative and other measures that may directly or indirectly affect persons with disabilities. This includes any decisionmaking processes, whether disability-specific or mainstream, that might have an impact in their lives. 65. States must consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities in law and policymaking and establish formal mechanisms and remedies for challenging decisions adopted without this prerequisite of validity. 2. Institutionalized consultative bodies and mechanisms 66. Although the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities underscores the involvement of persons with disabilities in decision-making processes through their representative organizations, it does not provide guidance on how participation should be ensured. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has highlighted the need to establish formal mechanisms and protocols, at all levels of the government, to conduct systematic consultations with representative organizations of persons with disabilities. 16