Parliament today unanimously approved the Maldives’ accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which allows individuals to submit complaints directly to a United Nations committee over alleged violations of their rights.

The motion was approved by all 64 MPs who voted.

Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2006, the Optional Protocol entered into force in 2008.

It establishes procedures through which individuals and groups can bring alleged violations of the convention before the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The committee can consider complaints alleging that a state party has violated the rights of persons with disabilities.

However, complaints can generally be considered only after all available domestic remedies have been exhausted, subject to exceptions set out in the protocol.