a submission. Paris Assembly 1948 Again led by Peter Fraser, a delegation attended a number of meetings held by the General Assembly's Third Committee in Paris to comment on the final drafting of the UDHR. Originally, New Zealand expressed the view that the Declaration should not be adopted at the Paris Assembly. Rather, the International Bill of Rights consisting of the Declaration, Covenant and measures of implementation, should be adopted as a whole. The reason for this view was that it was thought that adopting the Declaration first, intended to be a statement of principles with moral effect only, would prejudice the preparation of the Covenant. This was particularly so given that, unlike the Declaration, the Covenant created legal obligations. Eventually, New Zealand conceded to the majority view and agreed that immediately adopting the Declaration was necessary for matters to progress. It did, however, successfully put forward a resolution calling on the Commission on Human Rights to continue to give priority to the Covenant and measures of implementation. New Zealand's final contribution involved a proposal to alter the wording in Article 23(4) which is concerned with trade unions. Originally, the text read: "Everyone is free to form and join trade unions" but after the Third Committee accepted a New Zealand wording, now reads "Everyone has the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests." Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities New Zealand contributed significantly to the co-ordination and drafting of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which was adopted by the General Assembly on 13 December 2006 and came into force on 3 May 2008. New Zealand first became involved in July 2002 when the Ad Hoc Committee, established by the General Assembly to consider proposals for a convention, held its first meeting. Represented by the New Zealand Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Don MacKay, the New Zealand Office for Disability Issues and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade(MFAT) delivered a formal statement to the meeting. The statement: acknowledged that a new convention would promote and advance the rights of disabled people. requested that the Committee strengthen existing human rights mechanisms and ensure disability perspectives are included in monitoring the six core UN human rights treaties. declared, with reference to the New Zealand Disability Strategy, the importance of involving disabled people and NGOs in the future work