KABUL - The Wolesi Jirga on Saturday approved Afghanistan's accession to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The convention and its Optional Protocol were adopted in December 2006 by the United Nations and accession to began on March 30, 2007.
Syed Alimi Balkhi, head of the commission on disabilities, martyrs and widows, said the Afghanistan's accession to such conventions after three decades of war.
With the ratification of the treaty, the attention of the international community could be attracted to the problems of disabled Afghans, he hoped.

More than 100 countries, excluding Afghanistan, signed the convention in a year after its approval by the world body, Balkhi said. The pact guarantees certain facilities and privileges for the disabled people of Afghanistan, he continued.

A majority of parliamentarians supported Afghanistan's joining of the convention. Deputy Minister of Martyrs and Disabled Affairs Suraya Paikan welcomed the decision, saying it would help protect the rights of special people.

"It will enable us to share some of our problems concerning the disabled people with other countries," Paikan said. The number of disabled people in Afghanistan was much higher, she said, adding that 2.7 percent of the population was incapacitated.