Summer School 2026
The UNCRPD Twenty Years on: New Horizons and Emerging Challenges
Dates: 15th – 17th June 2026
The International Disability Law Summer School ran from Monday 15th to Wednesday 17th of June 2025. The theme for that year was ‘The UNCRPD Twenty Years on: New Horizons and Emerging Challenges’.
The Centre for Disability Law and Policy (CDLP) at the University of Galway welcomed our attendees to the 17th International Disability Law Summer School. This year’s event again followed a hybrid approach, enabling speakers and delegates to participate in-person or online.
This year’s International Disability Law Summer School marked the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). At the time of its adoption, the UNCRPD was heralded as the greatest single advance in protecting the rights of disabled people globally, as well as a gold standard for inclusive drafting of human rights instruments. This anniversary presented an important opportunity to take stock of what has been achieved in the two decades since the Convention’s adoption. While there has certainly been some progress globally in legislating for the human rights of disabled people; at the same time, the challenges to the vision presented by the UNCRPD are ever increasing. The growth of climate crises, global pandemics, war, genocide and far right politics pose specific threats to the human rights of disabled people which were not fully considered when the UNCRPD was adopted.
New developments which were not foreseen by the drafters of the UNCRPD were explored from a disability human rights perspective, including the emergence of new technologies. These can enhance disabled people’s participation in society, but equally, can undermine their freedom through surveillance and control. This year’s summer school explored how disabled people’s movements can continue to advance their vision for justice and the role the UNCRPD can play in this work into the future.
More Information: International Disability Summer Schools
Contact Details
Email: disabilitysummerscho@universityofgalway.ie
Phone: +353 86 418 1673
