1. Just ahead of the kickoff of the PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games, the Foreign Ministry will host “a Pyeongchang international forum on human rights of the challenged” under the theme of “human rights-based sustainable development for genuine social participation of the challenged” in Gangneung on March 9. The purpose of the event is to express wish for the success of the PyeongChang Winter Paralympics and share among the participants the progress in the international discussions on disability.

° At the forum, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador Walton Webson to the UN, the first visually impaired Ambassador to the UN, and Ms. Chia Yong Yong, the first-ever female Singaporean lawmaker with disabilities, will deliver keynote speeches, in which they will inform the other participants of the progress in the UN discussions on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and sustainable development agenda, as well as relevant efforts by their home countries. They will also exchange a wide range of views with experts of the Korea Disabled People's Development Institute and other disability-related groups at home.

※ The CRPD was adopted during the UN General Assembly session in 2006 and brought into force in 2008, becoming the first-ever treaty on human rights concluded in the 21^st century. As of March 2018, there are 175 state parties to the Convention, including the Republic of Korea.

2. On behalf of the ROK government, the Foreign Ministry’s Director-General for International Organizations will attend and deliver welcoming remarks at the forum. At the event to be chaired by Oh Joon, former President of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD, experts will speak about the ROK government’s efforts to achieve disability-inclusive social development and offer views on various topics, including human rights of women and girls with disabilities, accessible tourism, and equality before the law as a way to promote the human rights of the challenged.

※ Sign language interpretation service will be available for the hearing-impaired participants in the forum.

3. The forum, where some 100 members of disability-related groups at home and abroad will discuss ways to promote the rights and increase social participation of the disabled, is expected to help promote the PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games and enhance understanding on ways to promote the rights of the challenged.

* unofficial translation