New York, 12 September 2012 - Today, during the first day of the Fifth Conference of States Parties (COP) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (12-14 September) the election for the CRPD Committee has taken place in which 9 of the 18 positions on the CRPD Committee were renewed.
Each candidate had to be presented by a country that is a State Party to the Convention. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is composed of 18 independent experts and in accordance with article 34, paragraph 7, the term of nine of the members elected at the second election (September 2010) will expire on 31 December 2012.
Members are elected for a term of four years by the Conference of States Parties. Committee Members serve in their personal capacity and may be re-elected once if nominated.
The elections were conducted by secret ballot. During the first round of the election, the following candidates got the required absolute majority and were elected as members of the CRPD Committee: Ms. María Soledad Cisternas Reyes (Chile), Ms. Ana Pelaez Narvaez (Spain), Ms. Diane Mulligan (United Kingdom), Ms. Safak Pavey (Turkey), Mr. Monthian Buntan (Thailand), Mr. László Gábor Lovászy (Hungary) and Ms. Silvia Judith Quan Chang (Guatemala).
During the afternoon session, a second round was conducted to elect the final two members, who finally were: Mr. Martin Mwesigwa Babu (Uganda) and Mr. Mohammed Al-Tarawneh (Jordan).