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Persons with disabilities often require special support and are at risk of discrimination and marginalisation. When asserting their interests, they can rely on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2006 and implemented into national law by the Federal Republic of Germany in 2009. The Convention does not create special rights, but rather specifies the general human rights protection for the particular risks to which persons with disabilities are exposed. It thus emphasises the universal claim of human rights protection with its principles such as equal opportunities, inclusion, participation and self-determination: the rights of all people with disabilities should be respected, protected and enforced in the same way. How this can be realised in detail, and what it takes to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities successfully in the various areas of life, is subject of some debate. In addition to measures to assist persons with disabilities in living a self-determined life, the social climate also plays an important role.
