Key Recommendations

The government of Iran should:

• Implement a comprehensive review of legislation and policies to ensure that they are in line with the requirements of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
• Establish effective and independent monitoring systems as well as confidential, accessible complaint mechanisms to ensure that any alleged abusive or negligent treatment by SWO staff or home care providers is adequately addressed;
• Ensure that disability prevention programs are funded and implemented separately from policies designed to ensure the rights of people with disabilities. The State Welfare Organization, as the main implementing agency of the CRPD, should not have responsibility for disability prevention. Any disability prevention policies should be designed and implemented with full respect for the autonomy and right to private and family life of people with disabilities;
• Develop and publish a time-bound detailed plan to ensure, using maximum available resources, that public transportation including in rural and remote areas, as well as public roads, facilities, buildings and information would become equally accessible for people with disabilities;
• Introduce and enforce meaningful penalties for non-observance of accessibility requirements and denial of reasonable accommodation to people with disabilities;
• Ensure that medical care for people with disabilities is of the same quality and equally accessible for people with disabilities on an equal basis with others. Medicines and treatment should only be given on the basis of free and informed consent.