On December 3, 2016, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Bengt Lindqvist died.
Bengt Lindquist, through his active engagement, contributed to the respect for the rights of persons with disabilities through his participation in the development of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, which were the basis for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, whose dewe are celebrating the centenary this year.
Bengt was also the first UN rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, and he is close to us as one of the leading people who participated in the International Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (DRPI) project, within which the methodology for monitoring the rights of persons with disabilities was developed, which we applied to prepare the Alternative Report.
This man's name will be remembered and mentioned every time we talk about great fighters for the rights of people with disabilities in the world.
Former Statsrådet Bengt Lindqvist (S), 1936-2016.
Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT/archive