Resource Library
Manuals and Guidance
2022
Ces normes et procédures visent à combler certaines lacunes tout en exploitant le potentiel existant, en clarifiant la manière dont les GTG doivent fonctionner dans le contexte des nouveaux cadres et processus, en abordant les difficultés et les opportunités actuelles d’une manière globalement cohérente, dans les contextes nationaux.
Manuals and Guidance Standards and procedures
Este documento proporciona orientación a los CRs, al equipo país de las Naciones Unidas (UNCTs), a las agencias y al personal de la ONU y a las/los líderes e integrantes de los GTGs, sobre los estándares relacionados con el rol, las funciones y las metodologías de trabajo de estos grupos.
Briefs and brochures
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.
Briefs and brochures
2022
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.
Good practices
2021
Good practice on implementing UNCT Gender Marker and financial tracking in Kyrgyzstan
Manuals and Guidance Standards and procedures
2021
This document provides guidance to RCs, UNCTs, individual UN entities and UN staff, GTG chairs and members on standards related to the role, functions and working methods of GTGs.
Reports
2020
Enshrined in the principle of "Leave No One Behind," this study report is a synthesis of key findings and recommendations from a multi country mapping of the manifestations and trends in discrimination against women and girls with disabilities in the ESA region.
Manuals and Guidance
2021
This Technical Note aims to guide UNCTs on how to mainstream gender equality considerations into planning and programming work as part of their ongoing COVID-19 response and recovery effort.
Manuals and Guidance
2019
This guidance support UNCTs in the application of the GEM within UN INFO and the UNSDCF. The UNCT GEM tracks the resources allocated collectively by the UN system under the UNSDCF cycle, making clear the level of commitment and the degree of resources allocated by the UNCT in support of national GEWE priorities
Manuals and Guidance
2017
This resource book supports prioritizing and mainstreaming gender equality issues in UN common programming processes. Guidance and tips for UN staff, focusing on how to mainstream gender in the UNDAF (now the Cooperation Framework).
Manuals and Guidance
2020
Manual for facilitators: Gender-responsive Cooperation Frameworks provides guidance to facilitators and organizers on how to plan, prepare for, and conduct training on gender-responsive UN Cooperation Frameworks.
Manuals and Guidance Standards and procedures
2018
The Resource Guide for Gender Theme Groups is a key resource for further enhancing coordinated action on gender equality and the empowerment of women by UN staff operating in the field.
Good practices
2025
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.
Good practices
2025
This policy paper is focused on diverse groups of socially marginalized women with diverse disabilities. It highlights how the 12 critical areas of concern from the Beijing Platform for Action have progressed or faced continuing entrenched barriers and dealt with new challenges in the 30 years since the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing.
The focus is specifically on how gender inequality and disability exclusion both compound and create unique concerns for women and girls with disabilities. As they are not homogenous, this paper takes an intersectional approach, identifying the impacts for women and girls with disabilities facing numerous forms of discrimination while having different and multiple types of disabilities. Stereotypes and social and cultural norms are discussed in relation to stigma and discrimination.
The paper also features the voices of diverse women leaders with diverse disabilities, with case studies from various low- and middle-income countries.
The paper was produced as part of the development of the global report on accelerating disability inclusion in a diverse and changing world as well as a set of accompanying documents prepared for the Global Disability Summit 2025. Funding was provided by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany through UNICEF.
Good practices Policy Reports
2023
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.
Research and data
2024
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.
Briefs and brochures
2023
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.