UNILATERAL AGREEMENTS

(i) United Nations

Malawi as a member of the United Nations participates on issues pertaining to disability and elderly at the UN level.

• Malawi embraces a number of UN instruments that are aimed at promoting and protecting rights of persons with disabilities and older persons. Such instrument include the UN Standard Rules for the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs).
• Malawi signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). It was signed on 27^th September, 2007 and ratified on 27^th August 2009. The Convention has partly been domesticated through the Disability Act, 2012.
• UN Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing, a UN Member States grouping established to deliberate on possibility of establishing a Convention on the Rights of Older Persons. As a member state, Malawi participate in the grouping meetings by either sending a delegation or written submissions

(ii) African Union

• Malawi as a member of the African Union embraces the human rights instruments developed at this level to advance disability and elderly issues. Such instruments include the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa; the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa; and the Agenda 2063.