Disability rights have risen to global prominence since the introduction of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2006. The CRPD represented the culmination of ‘the last civil rights movement’ for disability rights, which can be traced back to the early 1980s and the founding of Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI), an organization dedicated to advancing human rights for persons with disabilities (PwDs) on a global level (Driedger, 1989). The relative lateness of the global campaign for disability rights occurred despite the fact that disability has been part of the human condition since time immemorial, in the sense that all human beings will experience it in some form, even if only from ageing. The historical factors leading up to the CRPD will be discussed below; its current relevance is borne out by the estimate that 15% of the world's population – one billion people – ‘experience some form of disability’, and that between 190 and 200 million people are severely disabled (World Bank [WB], 2021). As such, PwDs represent ‘the largest minority group’ on a global scale (Lindsay, Hartman, and Fellin, 2015). However, the need for global disability rights arises from not only the sheer number of people who experience disability globally, but also the fact that PwDs are among the most marginalized populations worldwide.

Disabled persons are more likely to be poor (International Labour Organization, UN Development Programme, and World Health Organization [ILO, UNDP, and WHO], 2004). They experience widespread stigma and discrimination, poor healthcare, comparatively low literacy rates, and high levels of unemployment or menial, precarious, low-paying work. PwDs are more susceptible to social isolation and marginalization (WHO and World Bank [WB], 2011). These issues and challenges can be especially severe among certain social groups. Disabled youth are particularly badly affected by unemployment and are more prone to work in precarious, informal sector positions than disabled adults (Lindsay, Hartman, and Fellin, 2015). Disabled women, minorities and children face even more severe challenges: their employment rates, wages and formal sector employment tend to be lower than those of their male counterparts (WHO, 2011).