Background Note
Informal discussion group: women with disabilities
1:00 – 2:30pm, Monday 9th March 2015
United Nations Headquarters, Room S-2724
The Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SCRPD/DSPD/UN
DESA), in collaboration with UN WOMEN, shall convene a discussion group on women with
disabilities on Monday 9th March 2015 in conjunction with the 59th Commission on the Status of
Women (CSW) and the commemoration of Beijing +20.
The informal discussion on women with disabilities is an initiative towards the implementation of
the Beijing Platform of Action and United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities for women with disabilities. The discussion seeks to bring together female leaders from
the field to revisit and strengthen the role and future network of women with disabilities advocates
at the global, regional and national levels.
Drawing on the core principle of “Nothing About Us Without Us,” an intrinsic element of the
UNCRPD, the perspective of women with disabilities should inform social and economic
development policies and programs at the global, regional and national levels.
Women with disabilities
Throughout the world, women with disabilities face multiple and aggravated forms of discrimination
based on their gender and based on their disability. Women and girls with disabilities are often the
last to receive the necessary supports (for example, education, employment, appropriate general
health care services) to enable them to overcome poverty and lead productive and fulfilling lives.
This is a particular concern given the concentration of women with disabilities among the poor and
rural communities in developing countries. In many developing countries, the opportunities and
accessibility for girls and women with disabilities are extremely restricted, meaning they are often
totally dependent on others for their very existence. Stigma and prejudice against this group due to
their gender, their disability, or both, also persists.
The UNCRPD recognises these challenges faced by women and girls with disabilities and calls on
States to take measures to ensure the full and equal participation and enjoyment of human rights
and fundamental freedoms.1 The UNCRPD also recognizes that women and girls with disabilities are
often at greater risk, both within and outside the home, of violence, injury or abuse, neglect or
negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation.
The United Nations has sought to promote the empowerment of women with disabilities both
within the context of its work to advance the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities in
society and development, as well as in its work to advance the situation of women. General
Assembly resolutions, most recently 69/142, as well as the Outcome Document of the General
Assembly High-level meeting on disability and development (A/RES/68/3) highlight the importance
1
See Article 6.
of including women with disabilities and the gender perspective in mainstreaming disability in
development.
It is important to note that women with disabilities have been active organizers and advocates for
the rights of all persons with disabilities for many decades. This has impacted on the creation of
goals for women with disabilities in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action. Nonetheless, as the global
community celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Platform, many women and girls living with
disabilities still face inadequate support from disparate gender and disability programs, policies and
movements.
Objective of the meeting
The informal discussion on women with disabilities will take stock of existing networks of women
with disabilities with a view to strengthening the voice and perspectives of women and girls with
disabilities in policy-dialogues at the global, regional and national levels. The discussion will involve
voices from the field in terms of reviewing implementation of the Beijing Platform and will explore
best practices; factors that contribute to the success of mainstreaming perspectives of women and
girls with disabilities in development; and methods to replicate and expand on such experiences. The
discussion will identify entry points to strengthen the mainstreaming of women and girls with
disabilities in follow up to Beijing +20.
The result of the discussion will contribute to further integration of the perspectives of women and
girls with disabilities in follow up to Beijing +20 and future implementation of the post-2015
development framework.
Participants
The Meeting is open to all interested Member States, entities of the United Nations system, and civil
society, in particular, organisations of persons with disabilities (DPOs) and organisations engaged in
the promotion of women’s empowerment and gender equality. Delegates attending the Commission
on the Status of Women, including representatives of national institutions for gender equality are
particularly welcome.