Attachments
Introduction
Many Arab States have strengthened their legal frameworks to uphold the rights of persons with disabilities. Yet despite these efforts, persons with disabilities (box 1) continue to face exclusion from social, political, economic, educational, and cultural life. This is especially true for women and girls with disabilities, who comprise 19.2 per cent of the global female population and are at greater risk of isolation, exploitation and violence.
Women and girls with disabilities often face multifaceted intersectional discrimination; however, they are not inherently “vulnerable”. Rather, it is the interplay of factors such as limited legislation and governance mechanisms, discriminatory attitudes, negative stereotypes, harmful social norms and practices, and a denial of opportunities that increase the vulnerability and risks of harm of women and girls with disabilities and impede the full realization of their human rights.
This is especially true during conflict or disaster, when women and girls with disabilities are significantly affected, or in post-conflict or transitional contexts, where their participation in conflict resolution processes, service delivery and aid, justice mechanisms and development processes is often overlooked or marginalized.
The adoption of the United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (2000), and the ensuing resolutions that constitute the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, serve as a formal recognition of women and girls’ differential experiences during and after conflict. The WPS agenda comprises four pillars: Prevention, Protection, Participation, and Relief, Recovery and Redress. It is broadly aimed at ensuring more gender-equitable opportunities for peacemaking and peacebuilding amid conflict and transition. One of the key tools for translating and localizing the WPS agenda within a national context is the development of a national action plan (NAP).
This technical paper examines how women and girls with disabilities in the Arab region experience conflict, and reflects on what can be done to engage women and girls with disabilities in peace and security concerns, through NAPs on WPS and through other mechanisms. To ensure that the viewpoints of women with disabilities and the organizations that support them are represented, the paper incorporates the results of interviews held with seven regional and international disability experts and activists,5 as well as responses to an online survey completed by 39 organizations for persons with disabilities (OPDs) in the Arab region.6 These data were augmented with a review of literature on women with disabilities and the WPS agenda, as well as an analysis of the 10 available NAPs on WPS in the region.