The report assesses progress in mainstreaming gender perspectives in the operational activities of the United Nations development system, and in the achievement of performance requirements set forward by accountability frameworks for gender mainstreaming of the United Nations system at the global and country levels.

The United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Gender and Disability Inclusion (UNWGGDI) collected case studies for the Beijing+30 review process, looking at lessons learned and good practices on gender, disability inclusion, and intersectionality. UN Women received a total 32 case studies from six UN entities (UN Women, UNEP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, and UNOPS) and two UN Country Teams represented by the UN Resident Coordinator’s Offices in India and Honduras.

In reflection of the 12 critical areas of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, violence against women and women in power and decision-making were equally the most addressed critical areas in the case studies, while the critical areas around women and the environment as well as the girl child were equally the least addressed.

This knowledge compendium aims to share reflections for UN entities, Member States, policymakers, and civil society organizations. It synthesizes best practices, innovative approaches, and collaborative efforts to enhance sustainable development and human rights for all. By ensuring that the rights and needs of women and girls with disabilities are adequately addressed, this document reinforces the commitment of the UN system and its stakeholders to a more equitable and inclusive future.

The list highlights key recent knowledge products developed by the UN System Coordination Division of UN Women to support the integration of gender considerations into strategic system-wide processes at global, regional, and country levels. It covers topics spanning from gender mainstreaming, UN-SWAP, UNCT-SWAP, Gender Equality Marker, UN Gender Theme Groups, to Disability Inclusion and Intersectionality.

Guidance on the steps and content to consider when conducting a peer review under the UN-SWAP 3.0 accountability framework.

The Venn diagram below illustrates the universe of entities based on their membership in various groupings and accountability frameworks. Each entity type is color-coded.

The “Women with disabilities stigma inventory” (WDSI) was developed as part of the project “Addressing stigma and discrimination experienced by women with disabilities” (ASDWD) project, which was jointly led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women, with funding from the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN PRPD).

The ASDWD project focused on the intersection of disability and gender-based stigma and discrimination. A key objective was to create a survey tool to assess the experiences of women and girls with disabilities regarding stigma, discrimination, and gender-based violence. To this end, alongside developing the WDSI using a participatory approach, a methodological note and ethical guidelines were also produced to ensure a human rights–based approach and minimize harm.

This toolkit includes:

• Women with disabilities stigma inventory (WDSI)
• WDSI methodological note
• Ethical standards guide for the ASDWD project

The WDSI is a stand-alone, self-reporting survey tool that can be used to collect data about the experiences of women with disabilities globally in relation to stigma, discrimination, and violence.

The purpose of the methodological note is to provide an overview of the WDSI, its development process, and how to implement the tool and analyse results.

The “Ethical standards guide” was used throughout the ASDWD project to minimize the risk of harm while engaging women with disabilities. The human rights–based approach and the “Do no harm” principle guided the conceptualization and implementation of these guidelines.

La presente publicación representa un esfuerzo conjunto de Organización para la Educación y la Cultura de Naciones Unidas (UNESCO), la Entidad de Naciones Unidas para la Igualdad de Género y el Empoderamiento de las Mujeres (ONU Mujeres) y de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud (PAHO) en Panamá bajo un programa nacional financiado por la sexta convocatoria del Fondo Fiduciario de Socios Múltiples (Multi-Partner Trust Fund) del Secretariado de la Alianza de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad (UNPRPD por sus siglas en inglés). 

El documento pretende dar una herramienta a las Organizaciones de Personas con Discapacidad (OPDs) en apoyo de su función de incidencia y abogacía para mejorar los resultados del presupuesto nacional relacionados con los compromisos nacionales e internacionales a favor de los derechos de las mujeres y de las personas con discapacidad. Sin una distribución eficaz y eficiente de los recursos destinados a cerrar las brechas de género y desigualdades que afectan a las personas con discapacidad, dichos compromisos no pueden cumplirse.

La presente publicación representa un esfuerzo conjunto de Organización para la Educación y la Cultura de Naciones Unidas (UNESCO), la Entidad de Naciones Unidas para la Igualdad de Género y el Empoderamiento de las Mujeres (ONU Mujeres) y de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud (PAHO) en Panamá bajo un programa nacional financiado por la sexta convocatoria del Fondo Fiduciario de Socios Múltiples (Multi-Partner Trust Fund) del Secretariado de la Alianza de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad (UNPRPD por sus siglas en inglés).

Para avanzar los derechos de las mujeres y de las personas con discapacidad en el país en base a las convenciones internacionales firmadas y ratificadas por Panamá y reflejadas en diversas legislaciones nacionales, y alcanzar la inclusión y la igualdad sustantiva, es necesario que los recursos humanos y financieros estén identificados y disponibles dentro de los sistemas de planificación y presupuestación del estado.

Es por ello que en la presente publicación se ofrecen ejemplos y se describen herramientas que logran introducir una perspectiva de género y de inclusión de los derechos da las personas con discapacidad a la planificación y presupuestación gubernamental. Para ello se ha contado también con la participación de las OPD y la Asamblea Nacional recogiendo sus sugerencias y puntos de vista a través de diversos talleres y reuniones dando a conocer los objetivos del proyecto y, de manera más importante, los derechos de las personas con discapacidad y su reflejo en los presupuestos públicos. 

The document outlines the organization’s strategy to implement the UN Women Strategic Plan (2022 – 2025) and specifically its Systemic Outcome 7 which - in the main1 - frames the organization’s UN system coordination work on gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) as reflected in its development results framework.

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.

Seventy-three UN entities, which make up 96% of the UN system, reported against UN-SWAP 2.0 in 2022.
This web page contains a summary of 2022 UN system-wide reporting results, as well as the report scorecard per each individual entity.

UN-SWAP 2.0 Technical guidance that guides reporting and is updated with references and good practices annually.

One in five women is estimated to be living with a disability, making it crucial to study the increased risks of various forms of violence that they face.  

This synthesis review contains key insights and lessons from the experiences of 22 diverse civil society and women’s rights organizations in various contexts that were supported by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) special window to end violence against women and girls with disabilities between 2018 and 2023. In particular, it highlights the lessons learned about fostering collaboration, shifting mindsets, empowering women and girls with disabilities, engaging with legal and policy systems, and allowing for flexible adaptation and learning in addressing violence against women and girls with disabilities.  

These findings mean that the review: 

• contributes to developing programming that is disability specific and disability inclusive; 
• promotes the development of a knowledge base that is grounded in the realities of practitioners in the Global South; and 
• offers practical recommendations to practitioners, researchers, donors and policymakers. 

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.

The latest UN system-wide achievements on gender equality and empowerment of women, collected via the 2022 UN-SWAP reporting. A total of 41 useful data points on the number and name of entities per detailed achievements, across 17 business functional indicator areas. 

UN Women, in its founding resolution, was mandated to ensure accountability and coordination across the UN system to lead progress on gender equality. The report reflects on the various forms in which it’s coordination efforts manifest across the UN system to advance gender equality, sharing also stories of good practice and the multiple drivers which catalyse and advance the work undertaken globally and in partnership with others

The meta-analysis consisted of a sample of 24 evaluations purposively selected from a population of 330 evaluations on the UNEG website found after a search for the keyword “gender”. The sampling frame was a mix of the main types of gender-related evaluations on gender strategies, policies and programmes implemented in the period from 2017 to 2022 with a main focus on results. The sample is representative of the different types of entities reporting to the UN-SWAP, and the analysis is divided into two parts: the focus and the quality of the evaluation; the evaluation results.

Are you planning an event and want to ensure it is accessible for all, including persons with disabilities but are unsure about the basic event accessibility guidelines? This document is for you!

Since 15 per cent of the world’s population experience one or another form of disability, ensuring physical and information accessibility is a prerequisite for their effective and meaningful participation in any public event. Everyone who arrives at your event should feel welcome and be able to participate and benefit from the event equally. This document provides guidelines on basic accessibility requirements to help you plan a more inclusive and accessible event.

Empowered by the UN-SWAP 2.0, UN Women is able to identify and coordinate the system-wide adoption of good practices and harmonized products that can be scaled from one entity to another. UN Women selects and publishes a series of good practices from various entities on annual basis, normally through the UN-SWAP review reports and the updated technical guidance. This catalog aggregates various best practices under UN-SWAP 2.0 indicators, updated in 2022.

The implementation of the strategy of gender mainstreaming is specifically called for and guided by mandates elaborated by Member States through negotiations in United Nations inter-governmental bodies. This is the full list providing the legislative basis, mandate to support gender mainstreaming at the global level.