This paper serves as a think piece to initiate and drive strategic discussions and action with key partners on ageing, emphasizing a life-course approach that integrates perspectives on the status and rights of older women. As global demographics continue to shift, it suggests actions to promote the rights of older women, and the incorporation of their perspectives into all policies and programmes at the global, national and regional level.

Women and girls with disabilities continue to face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. When it comes to global normative standards for disability inclusion, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) includes provisions and obligations related to gender equality. To date, however, normative standards have not been consistently translated into national, sectoral, and/or local gender-responsive, disability-inclusive policies and corresponding budgets.

Drawing on a selection of country experiences, this policy brief identifies emerging trends and practices on gender- and disability-inclusive budgeting. These include, among others:

• collection, analysis, and use of data and statistics on intersectional discrimination;
• integration of gender and disability inclusion in laws, policies, systems, and institutional practice;
• integration of gender and disability inclusion in the planning and budgeting cycle; and
• enhanced participation of women with disabilities in policy, planning, and budgeting.

The brief aims to address these gaps and promote policy discourse and reforms at global and country level.

UN Women is fully committed to mainstreaming disability inclusion and intersectionality throughout its work, as laid out in the UN Women Strategic Plan 2022–2025. The goal is to ensure a more systematic approach to ensuring the rights of women and girls with disabilities across UN Women’s areas of work.

Disability, gender, and discrimination are closely interlinked, with one in five women experiencing a disability-related exclusion. To address this, UN Women developed a corporate strategy for the empowerment of women and girls with disabilities built on a multi-pronged approach that includes providing normative guidance, integrated policy advice, operational support, and technical assistance for programme and capacity-development. The approach helps ensure that initiatives are both gender-responsive and inclusive of the rights of persons with disabilities.

This brief overviews UN Women’s approach to disability inclusion and intersectionality.

This brief analyzes legal and policy data from 190 economies on the rights of women with disabilities and highlights promising practices where laws directly recognize and protect these needs, with the goal of informing policy reforms across the globe.

This brief presents data on the legal barriers that women with disabilities face when accessing economic opportunities in 190 economies. The new data suggest that only one-quarter of economies worldwide explicitly protect and promote the rights of women with disabilities.
 

The brief highlights UN Women’s research on disability inclusion markers alongside insights from a wide range of development partners.

By focusing on the intersection of gender, age, and disability, this brief seeks to raise awareness regarding the situation of older women with disabilities and provides a set of recommendations for actions that stakeholders might consider and implement.
 

The brief discusses the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the ability of women, girls, non-binary, transgender, and gender-non-conforming (TGNC) persons with disabilities in meeting basic need.

The present brief was developed in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic and the unique challenges that this creates for women and girls with disabilities. The brief discusses actions that the UN system can implement systematically to address the needs and rights of these women and girls in COVID-19 response and recovery plans.

This brief discusses the global context for intersectionality in conflict or crisis and transition settings, and considers the specific barriers faced in relation to the women, peace and security and the rule of law agendas.

This brief discusses UN Women's approach to the inclusion of women and girls with disabilities, including through our corporate strategy on the issue.

This brief discusses the issue of leadership and political participation of women with disabilities and the UN Women's response to enabling their participation.

The brief sheds light on the barriers faced by women with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities in accessing justice, and explores a series of recommendations to close the justice gap.