Article 28 reaffirms that States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions, and shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right without discrimination on the basis of disability.
2. States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to social protection and to the enjoyment of that right without discrimination on the basis of disability, and shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right, including measures:
a) To ensure equal access by persons with disabilities to clean water services, and to ensure access to appropriate and affordable services, devices and other assistance for disability-related needs;
b) To ensure access by persons with disabilities, in particular women and girls with disabilities and older persons with disabilities, to social protection programmes and poverty reduction programmes;
c) To ensure access by persons with disabilities and their families living in situations of poverty to assistance from the State with disability-related expenses, including adequate training, counselling, financial assistance and respite care;
d) To ensure access by persons with disabilities to public housing programmes;
e) To ensure equal access by persons with disabilities to retirement benefits and programmes.
“Article 28 confirms the rights to an adequate standard of living and social protection and then goes about providing some indication as to the meaning of those rights. In other words, the Article mentions measures that would contribute to the realisation of the rights in question. However, the precise scope and content of these rights have not yet been clarified since no extensive research has been undertaken in this regard. What follows will thus be an attempt to expand upon the meaning of the right to social protection and the right to an adequate standard of living and, importantly, to determine the obligations created by Article 28 for States Parties.”