Ex-post control existing legal provisions. For example, the most recent amendment of the Austrian Federal Equal Opportunities Act (Bundes-Gleichbehandlungsgesetz) incorporated several suggestions by the AOB to improve protection against discrimination and tools under constitutional law. The AOB’s recommendations and suggestions on administration and legislation always not only take into account national requirements but also Austria’s international obligations and EU law on protection against discrimination, above all the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and EU provisions as well as UN Human Rights Conventions. It is worth mentioning in this context that in 2013, the AOB reported to two UN committees on its perceptions of whether and how Austria is currently meeting its obligations under international human rights conventions. In September 2013, the responsible UN committee (Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) evaluated the country report for Austria in respect of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. A large proportion of the AOB’s work relates to economic, social and cultural problems of groups at risk of discrimination, particularly persons with disabilities. We are happy that the AOB’s work as National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) and as an independent authority under Article 16 (3) UN CRPD was honourably mentioned in this Committee’s General Comments. In November 2013, the fourth country report for Austria in respect of the implementation of the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was evaluated by the responsible UN committee (Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights). AOB reports to UN committees Non-discrimination rules as structural principles of human rights protection are particularly important because they are an indispensable component of all human rights. They list characteristics, which cannot be used to justify preferential or discriminatory treatment. Examples include: skin colour, ethnic origin, sex, religion and ideology, language, political conviction, sexual orientation and sexual identity. All of these human rights - freedom of faith, freedom of opinion, fundamental legal rights, the right to education, health and access to the labour market etc. - must be available to all persons without discrimination. Currently, these rights are attracting particular attention where discrimination results in people not having access to economic and social human rights, such as work, accommodation, education, health care or protection against life risks, or where such access is significantly impeded. It is encouraging that the agenda of the new Federal Government includes the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all areas of life as one objective of its policies regarding persons with disabilities (Programme of the Austrian Federal Government 2013-2018, p. 54). It is not a new insight that restrictions suffered by persons with disabilities are not an unchangeable personal tragedy but are at least partially due to social prejudices and exclusion mechanisms. “Aid” and “compassion” for persons with disabilities must be replaced with full “participation” Inclusion as the aim of policies on the rights of persons with disabilities 31