Human Rights Officer, Canadian Council for Disabilities
Steven Estey is an International Human Rights consultant, with a focus on the human rights of people with disabilities. In June of 2020 Steven finished a very successful two-year term as interim National Coordinator of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD). He is also a former Human Rights Officer at Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI) a Canadian based NGO that has worked for over 30 years to advance the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities around the world.
Steven has travelled widely, for more than 25 years in many countries around the world. He has worked with Disabled Peoples’ Organizations, Human Rights Institutions, Governments, Intergovernmental Organizations and United Nations Agencies to advance disability rights. Over time he has gained wide experience in the areas of international cooperation, economic development, human rights and disability. He has testified before several parliamentary committees in Canada and spoken on Human Rights and people with disabilities at the United Nations and in many countries around the world.
From 2003, until the successful conclusion of the negotiations in 2006, Steven was advisor to the Canadian Government delegation to the United Nations, which drafted the new Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD). From 2007 until 2010 he led DPIs work to encourage Governments around the world to sign and ratify the CRPD.
Since 2010, when he left DPI, Steven has devoted his time to projects strategically aimed at the effective implementation of the CRPD and related to the full realization of disability rights and the effective implementation of the CRPD around the world.
Steven has a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from St. Francis Xavier and a Master’s in International Development Studies from Saint Mary’s; both Universities are in Nova Scotia.
