Disability and the United Nations

Excerpted from "The human rights dimension of disability":

Four core values of human rights law are of particular importance in the context of disability:

the dignity of each individual, who is deemed to be of inestimable value because of his/her inherent self-worth, and not because s/he is economically or otherwise “useful”;

the concept of autonomy or self-determination, which is based on the presumption of a capacity for self-directed action and behaviour, and requires that the person be placed at the centre of all decisions affecting him/her;

the inherent equality of all regardless of difference;

and the ethic of solidarity, which requires society to sustain the freedom of the person with appropriate social supports.