Through a rights-based approach, UNESCO encourages the development and implementation of inclusive education policies, programmes and practices to ensure equal education opportunities for persons with disabilities.

An overview of UN Habitat's work on disabilities

UNHCR works to ensure women, girls, men and boys with disabilities have access to vital services and have the opportunity to apply their skills and capacities to benefit themselves, their families and communities, and to identify the issues they face and develop long-term solutions.

Including persons with disabilities and expanding equitable opportunities are at the core of the World Bank's work to build sustainable, inclusive communities, aligned with the institution's goals to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity.

ESCWA assists member States in devising inclusive development policies

An overview of WHO's work on disabilities

the Inter-Agency Standing Committee published Guidelines on the ‘Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action’ which set out essential actions that humanitarian actors must take in order to effectively identify and respond to the needs and rights of persons with disabilities.

The toolkit is developed based on the information gathered from the person with disability, organization for person with disability, CSO and government in Timor-Leste, who work in prevention of violence against women and children. The content in the toolkit is looking at the definition of person with disability, human right, gender, violence and action plan to help training provider conducting the training for service provider institutions.

The present document analyses the current situation of gender and disability data in Georgia, including existing and potential data sources.

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.

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. 

The purpose of the Guidelines is to provide guidance on how to consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in all disability-specific and general decision-making processes across the UN’s work, as mandated in the UNDIS’ entity accountability framework and UNCT accountability scorecard, in order to enhance the participation of persons with disabilities to reach programmatic and operational goals and leave no one behind. This document provides guidance on how to make participation of persons with disabilities meaningful.

The Guidelines are intended to assist all UN personnel, whether they are working in human rights, sustainable development, humanitarian assistance, peace and security, or operational functions to consult with and actively involve with persons with disabilities and their representative organizations across programmes and operations – from planning and design to implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

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.