The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is an international human rights treaty that protects the rights of individuals with disabilities through 50 thematic Articles, covering areas like equality, non-discrimination,
employment, accessibility, and education.
Singapore signed the CRPD on 30 November 2012 and ratified it on 18 July 2013. The Inter-Ministerial Committee on the CRPD (IMC-CRPD) is chaired by MSF and comprises agencies across the whole of government. The IMC-CRPD is responsible for writing Singapore’s reports, forming and sending a delegation for Constructive Dialogues, and tracking Singapore’s progress under the CRPD.
Singapore works through the Enabling Masterplan (EMP) process to implement the CPRD. Singapore has had 4 iterations of the Enabling Masterplans since 2007, and the current plan, EMP2030, paves a 10-year-long path towards building a more inclusive society.
Find out more about EMP2030 here.
Singapore submitted its Initial Report on 30 June 2016 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore’s Constructive Dialogue on this report took place in Aug 2022, in UN HQ Geneva, Switzerland.
Read the full Initial Report here.
The 16th session of the COSP was held from 13-15 June 2023 in the UN Headquarters in New York. Singapore sent a delegation led by MSF Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua who delivered the national statement. External partners with disabilities, Chong Kwek Bin, a visually impaired technology analyst with SG Enable, participated as a panelist in a roundtable discussion on digital accessibility, and Joan Hung, a visually impaired national para-athlete delivered Singapore’s interventions at roundtable discussions on access to sexual and reproductive health, as well as under-represented minority disability groups respectively.
Read the full 16ᵗʰ COSP National Statement here.
Past National Statements
The 15th session of the COSP was held from 14-16 June 2022. The National Statement was delivered virtually by MSF Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua. The focus of the 15th COSP was building disability-inclusive and participatory societies in the COVID context and beyond. This was the year Singapore unveiled the fourth iteration of the Enabling Masterplan.
Read the full 15ᵗʰ COSP National Statement here.
The 14th session of the COSP was held from 15-17 June 2021. Singapore’s National Statement was delivered virtually by MSF Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua. The 14th COSP’s theme of “Building back better: COVID-19 response and recovery” was timely as Singapore built towards a post-COVID future.
Read the full 14ᵗʰ COSP National Statement here.
The 13th session of the COSP was held on 30 Nov, 1 Dec, and 3 Dec 2020. Singapore’s National Statement was virtually delivered by Second Deputy Secretary at MSF John Lim. Released in 2020, one of the focuses was supporting persons with disabilities through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read the full 13ᵗʰ COSP National Statement here.
The 12th session of the COSP was held on 11-13 June 2019. Singapore sent a delegation led by MSF Minister of State Sam Tan, who delivered Singapore’s National Statement. MOS Tan also co-chaired a roundtable discussion on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in society. The Singapore delegation included the three Enabling Masterplan 3 workgroup co-chairpersons who are leaders of disability organisations. They organised and spoke at side-events in the conference on the topics of technology and design for independent living and maximising the potential and opportunities for every person with special needs.
Read the full 12ᵗʰ COSP National Statement here.