The Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has been held annually in New York since 2009. The 16^th Conference of States Parties to the Convention, which was held at the United Nations Headquarters with the active participation of official representatives of States Parties, international organizations and representatives of civil society organizations, took place in New York on June 13-15, 2023.

The Conference, held every year with a different agenda, was organized this year under the theme "Harmonization of National Policies and Strategies with the Progress and Challenges". 

Within the scope of the conference, three roundtable discussions were held on "Ensuring Equal Access and Accessibility of Sexual and Reproductive Health Services for Persons with Disabilities", "Digital Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities" and "Reaching Underrepresented Groups of Persons with Disabilities".

Türkiye was represented at the conference by a delegation chaired by Ms. Elmas Esra CECELİ, General Director of Services for Persons with Disabilities and the Elderly, on behalf of the Ministry of Family and Social Services, the focal institution of CRPD.

National Declaration of the Republic of Türkiye was presented at the 16^th Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The National Declaration of Türkiye was presented at the Plenary Session, where the progress made by States Parties in the implementation of the Convention in the last year was briefed on the main theme.

Underlining that Türkiye took important steps to harmonize its national legislation with the Convention, Ceceli stated: " Important legal arrangements were carried out especially in 2013 and 2014 to harmonize the national legislation with the CRPD to strengthen the rights-based understanding, such as changing the expressions that stigmatize and discriminate in the national legislation."

Vision: "Building an inclusive society where persons with disabilities can realize their potential as equal citizens"

Emphasizing the vision of "building an inclusive society where persons with disabilities can realize their potential as equal citizens", Ceceli shared the developments in disability in Türkiye over the last few years. The Director General informed that the Barrier-Free Vision Document, which served as a roadmap in disability until 2030, was announced by the President of the Republic of Türkiye, Mr. Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN in 2021 to realize the legal, institutional and practical actions to be taken for the protection and development of the rights of persons with disabilities with a rights-based and inclusive approach and strong coordination.

 She stated that the "National Action Plan on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" covering the years 2023-2025 as the first implementation tool of the Barrier-Free Vision Document was shared with the public on December 2, 2022, and thus, activities were started to be implemented to accomplish 31 targets set in 8 policy areas. Ceceli underlined that the Action Plan was prepared with the contributions of public institutions, CSOs and universities with a participatory approach and added: "A Presidential Circular has been published in 2023 to ensure the effective implementation of the Action Plan by all stakeholders."

Noting that there were still difficulties in areas such as implementation, coordination, effective cooperation and disaggregated data in the field of disability all across the world, Ceceli stated that the Monitoring and Evaluation Board on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was a high-level coordination mechanism to overcome such difficulties, as stipulated in Article 33 of the CRPD, and shared the information that the structure of the Board, where CSOs were also represented, was strengthened in 2021. Ceceli added that the Board also had the duty to monitor the National Action Plan on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Pointing to the importance of international cooperation and exchange of experiences, Ceceli concluded her speech by stating that the Conference of States Parties would contribute significantly to the global outlook on the progress and challenges in aligning national policies and strategies with the CRPD.

In the sessions organized under the titles of "Digital Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities" and "Reaching Underrepresented Groups of Persons with Disabilities" within the scope of the conference, the Delegation delivered speeches and shared the developments, policies and good practice examples that were achieved in recent years in Türkiye in these areas to the international platform once again.

The delegation contributed to and participated in roundtable discussions and a dialogue meeting with the participation of representatives of States Parties and international organizations. The delegation also participated in various side events organized in cooperation with States Parties, CSOs, international organizations and the private sector on the main theme and sub-themes of the Conference and held bilateral meetings with representatives of States Parties.

On the occasion of June 15, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, the "Group of Friends of Older Persons", membered by Türkiye, co-hosted the meeting organized at the United Nations

Within the scope of "World Elder Abuse Awareness Day", on June 15, 2023, "Group of Friends of Older Persons”, membered by Türkiye , co-hosted the meeting held at the UN Headquarters with the theme "Closing the Circle: Addressing Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Older Age Policy, Law and Evidence-based Responses" in collaboration with the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, NGO Committee on Ageing and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).

The delegation, which was in New York on the occasion of the 16^th Conference of States Parties, represented Türkiye at the meeting on behalf of the Ministry of Family and Social Services, the focal institution in ageing, and shared information about the Survey on the Profile of Older Persons Türkiye (2023), which was conducted for the first time in the country and aimed to provide data that would guide projections and policies in ageing, in relation to the agenda of the meeting, "Tackling the abuse of older people through “evidence-based” gap maps, population based surveys and cost-effective solutions".