A/HRC/57/47 These rights include the rights to self-determination, land, territories and resources, consultation and free prior and informed consent. 9. While the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities does not contain a stand-alone article on Indigenous Peoples, its preamble, in which the general terms, purposes and considerations of the Convention are defined, contains recognition of the conditions faced by persons with disabilities who are subject to multiple or aggravated forms of discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political opinion, national, ethnic, Indigenous or social origin, property, birth, age or other status. 4 10. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women addressed the rights of Indigenous women with disabilities in its general recommendation No. 39 (2022) on the rights of Indigenous women and girls, identifying different forms of intersectional discrimination faced by Indigenous women and girls, including disability. In that general recommendation, the Committee emphasized their key role as leaders, knowledge-bearers and transmitters of culture among their peoples, communities and families, as well as society as a whole. In addition, it highlighted States’ obligations to respect their rights to effective participation in political and public life, and their rights to lands, territories and resources (paras. 2, 43 and 56). 11. Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides that the rights set forth in the Convention apply regardless of disability or any other status. Article 23 of that Convention sets out the rights of children with disabilities, emphasizing, inter alia, the need to ensure access to and receive education, training, health-care services, rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and recreation opportunities in a manner conducive to their cultural and spiritual development. These rights should be interpreted and implemented in the light of Committee on the Rights of the Child general comment No. 11 (2009) on Indigenous children and their rights under the Convention. Background III. 12. Under the social model and the human rights model of disability, disability is a social construct. It is the interaction between barriers and impairment within society, rather than personal impairments, that excludes persons with disabilities. A human rights-based approach to disability emphasizes the empowerment, inclusion and full participation of persons with disabilities in society, guided by the principles of dignity, autonomy and non-discrimination. 13. However, Indigenous persons with disabilities often experience intersectional discrimination and marginalization. Aggravated societal, attitudinal and environmental barriers hinder the full and effective participation of Indigenous persons with disabilities in society on an equal basis with others. Therefore, the Special Rapporteur considers it important to understand the reasons for the high numbers of persons with disabilities among Indigenous Peoples. In addition, during his consultations with Indigenous Peoples, the Special Rapporteur was requested to address in his report the root causes of the disproportionately high numbers of persons with disabilities among Indigenous Peoples. 14. The high numbers of persons with disabilities among Indigenous Peoples cannot be fully understood without considering the historical and ongoing impacts of colonization and structural racial discrimination. Colonization has disrupted Indigenous ways of life, leading to social, economic and health disparities that disproportionately affect Indigenous Peoples. These disparities have been compounded by structural racial discrimination, which manifests in various forms such as limited access to health care, education and employment opportunities and the disproportional contamination of Indigenous territories. 15. Colonization has resulted in the dispossession of land, forced assimilation, the suppression of Indigenous knowledge and the weakening of Indigenous self-government 4 4 International Disability Alliance, Indigenous Peoples with Disabilities Global Network and Endorois Indigenous Women Empowerment Network, The Impact of Climate Change on Indigenous Peoples with Disabilities in Baringo County, Kenya, p. 14. GE.24-12379