President Obama announced last week that he intends to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. He made the announcement just short of the 19th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

The United States is the last of the NATO countries to ratify the treaty, which came into force in 2006. Burkina Faso and Haiti ratified earlier in the week.

This marks the first international treaty the US has signed in over a decade.

Many human rights activists have been waiting for the US to sign the treaty so that the US can once again take a lead in the promotion of human rights around the world.

The United States Senate will have to ratify the treaty.

Ten percent of the world’s population has some kind of disability.