Home Disability issues Reporting by the Nordic countries to the UN

Reporting by the Nordic countries to the UN

Human rights is one of the Nordic Council of Ministers’ three focus areas for collaboration on disability. Of particular importance is work to enact the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

nordiska flaggor i motljus

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2006 and entered into force in 2008. The main objective of the Convention is to ensure that the human rights of persons with disabilities are fulfilled.

Through the Council of Ministers’ Nordic Programme for Cooperation on Disability Issues 2023–2027, the Nordic Welfare Centre has been given the task of gathering knowledge and networks on how the Convention is being implemented in the Nordic countries.

All of the Nordic countries have ratified the Convention. Iceland and Norway have incorporated the CRPD into national legislation. Finland has implemented the Convention through legislation and uses the CRPD as a key source of law, whilst Denmark and Sweden base their disability policies to a greater extent on national objectives and strategies.

Once a country has ratified, legally endorsed, the convention, the process of reporting about how the country lives up to the tenets of the convention is initiated.

Once a State has submitted its periodic report, it is examined by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the CRPD Committee). The Committee then draws up a List of Issues (LoIPR), which forms the basis for a constructive dialogue between the State and the Committee. This dialogue takes place, amongst other venues, at the UN in Geneva. During the process, civil society and disability organisations are also given the opportunity to submit their own views and supplementary information. Following the dialogue, the Committee adopts its Concluding Observations, in which it assesses how well the State is implementing the Convention and makes recommendations for its continued implementation.

Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland

Dialogue in Geneva in August 2024
Recording of the dialogue from
737th Meeting, 31st Session, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

738th Meeting, 31st Session, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

Denmark’s Dialogue with the UN CRPD Committee: Key Findings, Concluding Observations and Implications for Future Implementation

Finland and Åland

Dialogue in Geneva in August 2025
Recording of the dialogue from
804th Meeting, 33rd Session, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

805th Meeting, 33rd Session, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

  • Expected date for submission of documentation:
    • List of issues prior to reporting (LoIPR) 30 September 2036
    • State party report under the Simplified Reporting Procedure 30 September 2037
    • Concluding observations 31 August 2039

Iceland

Norway

Sweden

Dialogue in Geneva in March 2024

Recording of the dialogue from the 700th Meeting, 30th Session, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

Link to UN Web TV

701st Meeting, 30th Session, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

Link to UN Web TV

Expected date for submission of documentation:

  • Date specified in the Concluding Observations for the submission of the combined fourth to sixth periodic reports: 15 January 2031.
  • Provisional date for the list of recommendations to be implemented: September 2031.
  • Provisional date for the dialogue: March 2035.
  • Expected date for submission of documentation:
    • List of issues prior to reporting (LOIPR): 30 March 2035
    • State Party’s report: 31 March 2036

Concluding Observations: 31 August 2038

Expected date for submission of documentation by State parties for CRPD

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