(Re)framing independent living in the global South : a critical reflection on general comment No. 5 on Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Abstract

Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognizes a basic human right to living independently and being included in the community for persons with disabilities. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the Committee), which is charged with monitoring States parties’ implementation of treaty obligations, adopted General Comment No. 5 in 2017 to guide States parties on implementing Article 19. In this essay, we argue that this general comment does not adequately address realities in many Global South contexts that pose important challenges for full Article 19 implementation. Specifically, we believe this general comment downplays certain di!erential cultural conceptions of independent living, sidelines the reality of families acting as informal support systems capable of contributing meaningfully to persons with disabilities’ independence and community inclusion, and fails to grapple with the tensions inherent to guaranteeing freedom of choice amid situations of poverty. We conclude with suggestions for how the Committee might address these limitations going forward, so as to avoid repeating familiar patterns of not embracing the lived experiences of persons with disabilities in the Global South and to promote contextualized approaches to Article 19 implementation across diverse economic, social, and cultural contexts.