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Posted On: June 18th 2026, 03:42 am
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"If governments won't implement our rights, disabled communities will organise and make them."
At our #COSP19 side event, *Finding Common Ground*, Disabled Persons Assembly NZ - DPA President Kera Sherwood-O'Regan challenged participants to think about what the next 20 years of disability rights implementation should look like.
While the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) remains one of the most important tools disabled people have to advocate for our rights and hold governments accountable, Kera acknowledged a difficult reality: many governments are not delivering on the commitments they made.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, disabled people are experiencing significant setbacks, with hard-won gains increasingly under threat.
But Kera's message was clear: disabled communities are not waiting.
The *Finding Common Ground* initiative was created to answer a critical question: how do we translate the principles of the CRPD into something meaningful, practical, and grounded in the lived realities of disabled people in Aotearoa?
Developed through relationships, kōrero, and collaboration across the disability community, the Declaration of Disability Rights and Aspirations aims to make our rights easier to understand, easier to use, and harder to ignore.
Grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, disability rights, and the lived experiences of disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori, and Pacific disabled communities, it is about turning aspirations into action and building the collective power needed to create change.
As Kera reminded us, the future of disability rights will not be delivered to us.
It will be built by us.
📢 Complete the survey and add your voice to the Declaration of Disability Rights for Aotearoa New Zealand.
https://www.dpa.org.nz/dpa-projects/finding-common-ground/finding-common-ground/
Together, we can define the future we want and build the movement needed to achieve it.
#FindingCommonGround #COSP19 #UNCRPD #OurDeclarationOurRights
At our #COSP19 side event, *Finding Common Ground*, Disabled Persons Assembly NZ - DPA President Kera Sherwood-O'Regan challenged participants to think about what the next 20 years of disability rights implementation should look like.
While the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) remains one of the most important tools disabled people have to advocate for our rights and hold governments accountable, Kera acknowledged a difficult reality: many governments are not delivering on the commitments they made.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, disabled people are experiencing significant setbacks, with hard-won gains increasingly under threat.
But Kera's message was clear: disabled communities are not waiting.
The *Finding Common Ground* initiative was created to answer a critical question: how do we translate the principles of the CRPD into something meaningful, practical, and grounded in the lived realities of disabled people in Aotearoa?
Developed through relationships, kōrero, and collaboration across the disability community, the Declaration of Disability Rights and Aspirations aims to make our rights easier to understand, easier to use, and harder to ignore.
Grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, disability rights, and the lived experiences of disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori, and Pacific disabled communities, it is about turning aspirations into action and building the collective power needed to create change.
As Kera reminded us, the future of disability rights will not be delivered to us.
It will be built by us.
📢 Complete the survey and add your voice to the Declaration of Disability Rights for Aotearoa New Zealand.
https://www.dpa.org.nz/dpa-projects/finding-common-ground/finding-common-ground/
Together, we can define the future we want and build the movement needed to achieve it.
#FindingCommonGround #COSP19 #UNCRPD #OurDeclarationOurRights
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