Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday urged the Congress of Mexico City to “seriously consider” a proposal submitted by a disability rights coalition during its new session.
The proposal by Cuidados Sí; Apoyos También (Care Yes; Supports Too) calls on lawmakers to adopt a rights-based framework grounded on “autonomy, participation, and independent living for care and support legislation.”
As an alliance of combined action, the coalition includes organizations such as Mexicanas con Discapacidad, Women Enabled International, Movimiento de Personas con Discapacidad, as well as human rights organizations, including Yo También, Human Rights Watch, and Documenta. Carlos Ríos Espinosa, associate disability rights director at HRW, calls on the Congress of Mexico City to listen to the voices of those impacted.
Care and support policies developed without the meaningful participation of the people who will rely on them risk reinforcing the very dependence and exclusion they are meant to address. People with disabilities are not passive recipients of care and support. They are rights holders, with expertise grounded in lived experience, and their proposals deserve serious consideration.
The proposal pushes legislators to include a chapter dedicated to support for independent living in the care and support bills. These bills are currently under review by the Congress of Mexico City. HRW asserts that this expansion would enable Mexico City to seize the opportunity to establish a system that prioritizes “choice, autonomy and inclusion,” thereby better aligning the country with its international human rights obligations.
Signed and ratified in 2007, Mexico consented to be bound to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Preamble subsection (n) states the purpose of the convention is “recognizing the importance for persons with disabilities of their individual autonomy and independence, including the freedom to make their own choices.” The Care law push also brings Mexico in line with Advisory Opinion 31/2025 from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, as well as its regional commitment to the Tlatelolco Commitment.
According to the 2020 census from the Mexican agency National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), approximately 20.8 million, roughly 16 percent, of Mexicans live with a documented disability. The proposed state policy would reduce the country’s rates of institutionalization, promote independent living, and address socioeconomic barriers worsened by the presence of disabilities.
