The Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: A Longitudinal Study Project by Aktion Mensch Based on the Concluding Observations Reports of 16 Member States

This report summarises the main findings from a study into the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The study set out to answer four questions by investigating 29 concluding observations reports from the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for 16 States Parties, covering 16 reports for the first review process of 2011-2015 and 13 from the second review process of 2019-2023. This investigation included content and thematic analysis, and aimed to grade each report. The research questions were: 1. Are there differences in the grade of implementation of the UNCRPD between the States Parties? 2. Are there differences between the States in the progress/ regress of implementation of the UNCRPD between the two periods? 3. Can States Parties be ranked in terms of the grade or progress of implementation? 4. Is it possible to identify thematic focal points in which the concluding observations reports of certain States Parties differ from those of other States? Concerning the first and third questions, the study has demonstrated that this is possible. However, the final overall grades are remarkably similar in this sample, most likely due to the small sample size of only 13 States Parties at the second report stage. Despite this similarity between overall grades, the individual articles demonstrate considerable variation, enabling respective States Parties to identify areas of weakness where improvements are most needed. In relation to the second research question of whether reports can be compared longitudinally, the answer for this set of reports is no. This is because the sample comprises those States Parties whose initial concluding observations reports were very early in the Committee's monitoring process. All of the States Parties appear to have regressed significantly, whereas in reality the change lies in the Committee’s growing understanding and increasingly deep analysis of the implementation of rights. Regarding the fourth question of whether themes were identifiable within the sample, the answer is yes, with 'intersectional discrimination' and 'deinstitutionalisation' as examples of discernible themes. Where these themes were evident, particularly when the Committee made repeated comments about them, this impacted the grade the State Party received for each article that contained a reference to one of these issues, and it therefore significantly affected the States Parties' overall grades. If States Parties were to eliminate these barriers to the full implementation of article rights, the concerns raised by the Committee would thus be greatly reduced, reflecting an improved implementation of rights and consequently significantly improving the grading in this type of analysis

Managing fire for woodland caribou in Jasper and Banff National Parks

Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) populations in Jasper (JNP) and Banff National Parks (BNP) have declined since the 1970s, coincident with reduced fire activity in both parks, relative to historic levels. Some researchers have suggested that long periods without fire may cause habitat deterioration for woodland caribou, primarily by reducing available lichen forage. We examined winter habitat selection by woodland caribou at coarse and fine scales based on GPS-derived telemetry data and used models that included stand origin (decade), topography, and several stand structure variables that are related to time since fire, to explore relationships among caribou, lichen, and fire history. Based on the relationships illustrated by the models, we assessed how fire management could be applied to caribou conservation in JNP and BNP. At a coarse scale, caribou selected old forest (> 75 years) in landscapes that have likely experienced less frequent wildfire. While the abundance of Cladonia spp. influenced caribou use at fine scales, a preference for areas with older trees within stands was also significant. We conclude that short-term habitat protection for woodland caribou in JNP and BNP likely requires fire exclusion from caribou range

Contextualizing the business responsibility to respect: How much is lost in translation?

As the work of the UN Special Representative (UNSR) for business and human rights moves towards its conclusion in mid-2011, the core principles of the UNSR’s ‘responsibility to respect’ framework have received widespread endorsement from businesses, NGOs and governments. The translation of these general principles into specific obligations governing business activity will need to differ according to context. The reasons why overarching regulatory principles can get ‘lost in translation’ when applied in practice have important implications for understanding how the UNSR’s responsibility to respect framework can be meaningfully implemented across widely varying regulatory contexts. The central goal of this chapter is to understand why and under what conditions this loss is likely to arise, and how regulatory standards for business and human rights might be designed to enable the responsibility to respect principle to be applied in context-sensitive ways, without losing regulatory force

Defining Professional Self: Teacher Educator Perspectives of the Pre-ECR Journey.

This paper examines the situations of four teacher educators working within academic contexts, but who do not as yet qualify as early career researchers (ECRs) by definition. Within this paper, we define this group as ‘pre-ECRs’; those working and teaching within contexts of academia whilst undertaking a PhD or similar higher education qualification. Critical comparative analysis is used to examine the nexus between what is currently known about becoming an ECR and narrative accounts of the authors’ experiences of negotiating Faculty expectations for research output, teaching and postgraduate study. This approach provides rich insight into what happens prior to and during the initial stages of what we define as the pre-ECR journey. Through the examination of our storied experiences within the context of the existing body of knowledge, the implications of not being able to locate ourselves within a distinctive and appropriate professional identity become apparent. This paper offers a unique insight as it is researched from the perspectives of four pre-ECRs working within an Australian University Faculty of Education. This is valuable given that current research around ECRs provides minimal insight into experiences and challenges unique to those working toward ECR status

Sleep and forgetting in children with genetic generalised epilepsy

Objective: Given the well-established association between epilepsy and sleep disturbance and the evidence suggesting the importance of sleep in memory consolidation, there is reason to investigate the relationship between sleep and rate of forgetting in children with epilepsy. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep and forgetting in children with Genetic Generalised Epilepsy (GGE). Methods: Participants were 19 children with GGE (9-15 years old). Actigraphy, sleep diaries and standardised questionnaires were used to measure sleep over a week long period. Rate of forgetting was measured using neuropsychological tests at the beginning and end of the study week. Spearman’s correlation analysis was used to determine if poorer sleep was associated with poorer initial learning and rate of forgetting in verbal memory recall and recognition. Results: No association was found between sleep efficiency or duration and rate of forgetting. Measures of sleep disturbance were mixed, with sleep onset latency found to be associated with rate of forgetting on the Word Lists test. However, increased wake after sleep onset was associated with decreased rate of forgetting. Conclusions: Whilst there was limited evidence of a relationship between some actigraphic sleep parameters and rate of forgetting for verbal information, the results were mixed and likely biased by the small sample size. There is need for further research with a larger sample to establish the nature of the relationship between sleep and rate of forgetting in children with GGE