UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. The United Nations System Coordination Division, coordinates and promotes the accountability of the United Nations system in its work on gender equality and the empowerment of women at the global, regional and country levels. Through a dedicated portfolio on disability inclusion and intersectionality, it contributes to gender equality and empowerment of women and girls with disabilities. Context The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action recognize disability as a barrier to full equality and advancement, and the enjoyment of human rights, [1] and identify specific actions to ensure the empowerment of women with disabilities in various areas. [2] The Platform for Action established gender mainstreaming as a global strategy for achieving gender equality. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) agreed conclusions 1997/2 defined the strategy of mainstreaming and established guiding principles for mainstreaming. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) emphasizes the need to incorporate a gender perspective in all efforts to promote the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by persons with disabilities.[3] It also includes, as one of its general principles, the need to ensure equality between women and men;[4] a standalone article, Article 6, on women with disabilities; and several provisions with specific references to women, gender, or sex.[5] To assist States Parties, and provide guidance, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted a General comment on Article 6: Women with disabilities.[6] In Section V on National Implementation the Committee notes that “[T]he recommendations of the relevant United Nations bodies dealing with gender equality shall be taken into account by all States parties and applied to women and girls with disabilities” (paragraph 63). The consultant will contribute to UN-Women’s work on gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls with disabilities, disability inclusion and intersectionality agenda in line with the principle of Leaving No One Behind (LNOB). [1] Beijing declaration and platform for action: adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women: action for equality, development and peace, Beijing, China, 4-15 September 1995. (1995). Beijing: United Nations, paragraphs 46 and 225. [2] Ibid. paragraphs 60(a), 175(d), 280(c), 82(k), 106(c), 106(o), 124(m), 126(d), 178(f), 178(j), 195(a), 206(k), 101, 233(a), 233(b), 81(a), 278(d). [3] Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) preamble (s) [4] Ibid., Article 3 (g). [5] Ibid., Article 8 on awareness raising, paragraph (b); Article 16, on freedom of exploitation, violence and abuse, paragraphs 1 and 4; Article 25, on health, chapeau; Article 28 - Adequate standard of living and social protection, paragraph 2 (b); Article 34, on the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, paragraph 4. [6] Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in General Comment No. 3 (2016) on Article 6: Women and girls with disabilities (CRPD/C/GC/3).
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