Civil Society, Rights and Welfare: Exploring the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Commonwealth of Independent States

Abstract

In response to international concerns about ongoing rights violations, this study presents a comparative analysis of state and civil society organisations’ discourse on the early phase implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWD) in the Commonwealth of Independent States. The findings show that PWD continue to experience rights-denial and barriers to shaping policy and accessing social welfare. There is a ‘disconnect’ between state and civil spheres that hampers effective implementation and explains the endurance of the medical model of disability across the post-Soviet space.