This series of briefs addresses a range of issues related to the empowerment of women and girls with disabilities. Building on UN Women's corporate strategy on the issue, the objective of this series is to analyse and assess global trends across various thematic areas from a perspective of gender-responsive disability inclusion.

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 United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) provides the foundation for sustainable and transformative progress on disability inclusion through all pillars of the work of the United Nations: peace and security, human rights, and development. This webpage has links to the Strategy in various languages and to information and resources related its implementation.

The UNPRPD integrates institutional and operational mandates to facilitate inter-agency collaboration and joint programming on disability inclusive development. It works to overcome the multiple barriers that continue to prevent persons with disabilities from the equal and effective enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. The webpage has information about projects supported by the Partnerships and other related documents.

The technical notes provide guidance on the 15 performance indicators of the United Nations entity accountability framework and will guide entities to implement and report on the United Nations Disability Strategy (UNDIS).

The Accountability Framework provides guidance on 14 performance indicators to guide United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs) to implement and report on the United Nations Disability Strategy (UNDIS).

The United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) provides the foundation for sustainable and transformative progress on disability inclusion through all pillars of the work of the United Nations: peace and security, human rights, and development.The website has information and resources related to UNDIS and its implementation, including guidance on disability inclusive communication, procurement, etc. as well as reports on the implementation of UNDIS.

The study is the first of its kind in Sri Lanka to use a gender budgeting framework to examine government plan, policies and budgets and its impact on women with disabilities. In this study, 400 persons with disabilities covering 4 districts were surveyed on difficulties faced in entering and remaining in the labour force. Evidence shows that they encounter multiple barriers in access to economic opportunities and women with disabilities are twice as disadvantaged

The Guide supports key stakeholders to help facilitate the full inclusion and meaningful participation of women and girls with disabilities. It aims to assist in understanding of the intersectionality of human rights and provides practical recommendations for the implementation and monitoring of two key Conventions: the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

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.

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. 

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.

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.