58th session of the Human Rights Council
Item 3: Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
Monday 10 March 2025
Statement by Action Canada for Population and Development
Thank you, President.
Action Canada makes this statement on behalf of Women Gaining Ground Consortium, and 4 other organizations.[1]
We welcome the Special Rapporteur’s report and acknowledge the need for better compliance of Beijing +30 with the CRPD, especially on legal capacity, independent living and accessibility. We appreciate reporting on various networks of women with disabilities that organize to break barriers for leadership across regions.
More action is needed to address the intersectional challenges of women with disabilities living in rural areas, including young and indigenous women and other structurally excluded communities. Investment in developing the leadership of such women is key.
We call for urgent implementation measures to combat violence based on gender and disability, including femicides. Even when legal frameworks exist, implementation, access to justice and to crisis centers are extremely limited for women with disabilities.
We call for obligatory and urgent funding for full accessibility, including individual country Sign Languages of all UN in line with the Feminist Accessibility Protocol, to break the history of inaccessibility. We suggest that the Beijing Platform for Action aligns with the CRPD Guidelines on deinstitutionalization, including in emergencies.
Finally, we encourage the Special Rapporteur and States to bring focus to the impact of development cooperation shifts on women with disabilities. International solidarity is key in the era of climate change, genocide, wars and multiple humanitarian crises.
[1] Women Enabled International, Deaf Women Included, Triumph Mental Health Support, Sexual Rights Initiative.