Mr. Chairman,

Since this is my Delegation's first opportunity to address the Ad Hoc Committee at this session, please accept our best wishes and congratulations to you and the other members of the Bureau. This Delegation also thanks all previous speakers for their substantive contributions to this important discussion.

The richness of a person with disabilities constantly challenges all of society, calling all people and their political institutions to open themselves to the mystery of life presented by disabilities. The person with disabilities has every right to be a subject and an active agent in the everyday affairs of human existence. These persons are rich in humanity. Each has rights and duties like every other human being.

Disability must not be regarded as a punishment or curse. Rather, it is an ordinary occurrence or circumstance of human existence which can and does fully integrate persons with disabilities into daily interaction with all other persons. It is a place where humanity receives the strongest impulses and resources for a world based on solidarity, hope and love. It is a place where normality and stereotypes are challenged and civil society is moved to search for that crucial point at which the human person is fully himself or herself. And we know that human beings are at the centre of concern for what we discuss and do in this gathering. The Holy See appreciates and agrees with the statements made by the Secretary General as recently as October of 2002, that placing the safety and concern of human beings at the centre of everything the UN does is key.

The Mexican paper appears intended to help all people realize that the person with disabilities can and must be a subject in the breadth of human activity. My Delegation looks forward in cooperating with this authoring Delegation and all others to promote and implement the sound ideas contained in this proposal.

The Holy See has been participating in the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, and looks forward to the ongoing work of the Ad Hoc Committee and the possibility of the drafting of a Convention that will further protect these persons' rights. Solidarity with the disabled will also ensure furthering of the common good. And it is the common good which fosters right relationship amongst all peoples so that true justice may be achieved.

It has been twenty-seven years since the United Nations first published the Declaration on the Rights of the Disabled. Much has changed and there have been many advances in science, access, acceptance, health care, understanding and hope.

In its support of this progress and hope, the Holy See encourages "those who have political responsibilities at every level to work towards ensuring living conditions and opportunities such that [the] dignity [of those with disabilities] is effectively recognized and protected. In a society rich in scientific and technical knowledge it is possible and necessary to do more in the various ways required by civil coexistence: from biomedical research for preventing disabilities, to treatment, assistance, rehabilitation and new social integration."

Mr. Chairman,

In this discussion of the important and pressing issues raised by those who experience disabilities in their lives, my Delegation can assure you and all participating Delegations that the Holy See will continue to work to cooperate in bringing that same hope for a better future for all, through recognition of that human dignity in which we share.