Gender Dimensions of the Implementation of the Agenda for Action

Adopted by the Meeting to Review the Progress of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002, Bangkok, 26 – 30 June 1995.

Critical issues
Women and girls with disabilities in every community, whether urban or rural, whether in a developed or a developing country or territory in the ESCAP region, experience triple discrimination: from being female, disabled and poor. Discrimination and prejudice prevail even within each of those groups. Among women, the disabled woman is seen as inferior; among people with disabilities, she is not their equal. Thus women with disabilities are among the most isolated, marginalized and poorest of people.

They are likely to receive less care and food and be left out of family interactions, and community activities. They also have less access to health care and rehabilitation services, fewer opportunities to be educated and employed and little hope of marriage. They will be more vulnerable to physical and psychological abuse.

All actions to improve the status of disabled persons do not always benefit women and girls with disabilities equally. If the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002, is to make a difference for women and girls with disabilities in the region, greater attention must be given to the issues faced by them and to increasing their capacity to participate in the local-, national- and international-level implementation of the Agenda for Action.

Recommendations

1. National coordination

Strategic objective:

To enable representatives of women with disabilities to be involved in policy - and decision-making on issues that relate to them at the national level.

Action to be taken:

1.1 Include women with disabilities as members of the national coordination committee, their number to be equal to the number of men with disabilities in the committee.

Action by: National coordination committees for disability concerns.

1.2 Provide the means for them to develop the skills required for effective functioning in the committee.

Action by: Self-help organizations of people with disabilities, organizations concerned with human resources development and empowerment among women.

2. Legislation

Strategic objective:

To protect and promote the rights of disabled women.

Action to be taken:

2.1 Identify, examine and amend existing legal and policy provisions which may discriminate against women with disabilities and restrict their access to public services and participation in society.

Action by: Governments, self-help organizations of people with disabilities.

2.2 Initiate and strengthen activities to inform and educate women and girls with disabilities as well as the public (including women and men with disabilities), regarding their rights.

Action by: Governments, self-help organizations of people with disabilities, women s organizations, particularly those engaged in the promotion of legal literacy.

2.3 Provide free legal service to women with disabilities.

Action by: Governments and legal aid organizations.

3. Information

Strategic objective:

To generate, collate and disseminate information on the situation of women with disabilities to provide a sound basis for policy formulation and action, and to increase public awareness.

Action to be taken:

3.1 Incorporate the collection of gender-specific data in surveys on the disability situation at national level and by the United Nations system.
Action by: Governments, UNICEF, UNIFEM.

3.2 Undertake studies on the actual living conditions of disabled women in urban and rural areas, particularly those in the poorest and most disadvantaged communities, with a view to identifying ways to improving their status and living conditions.

Action by: Governments, self-help organizations of people with disabilities, women s organizations, organizations working on urban management and housing rights and on rural poverty alleviation.

3.3 Record and document the experiences of women with disabilities in ESCAP developing and least developed countries.

Action by: Self-help organizations of people with disabilities, women's' organizations and media organizations.

3.4 Investigate and report on the extent and nature of violence against disabled women and girls, with a view to formulating measures for their protection and redress.

Action by: Governments, self-help organizations of people with disabilities, women's' organizations and regional networks involved in campaigning on violence against women.

4. Public Awareness

Strategic objective

To generate, collate and disseminate information on the situation of women with disabilities to provide a sound basis for policy formulation and action , and to increase public awareness.

Action to be taken

4.1 Raise awareness among media persons in the ESCAP region on issues relating to women and girls with disabilities and encourage their support for promoting positive public attitudes regarding women and girls with disabilities.
Action by: Self-help organizations of people with disabilities, organizations working on social mobilization of marginalized groups, UNICEF, UNESCO, the Asian Cultural Centre for UNESCO.

4.2 Include women and girls with disabilities in all activities (e.g., sports and the arts) and materials (e.g., posters, commemorative stamps, first day covers and training packages) aimed at public information, education and social mobilization on disability issues.

Action by: Governments, self-help organizations of people with disabilities, media organizations.

5. Accessibility and Communication

No additional recommendations for women and girls with disabilities.

6. Education

Strategic objective:

To ensure that all girls and women with disabilities be given the fullest possible opportunity for education.

Action to be taken:

6.1 Study the reasons for the low enrolment of girls and women with disabilities in schools, higher learning institutions, functional literacy and other non-formal education programmes, with a view to evolving and implementing a comprehensive plan to eliminate barriers to their enrolment.

Action by: Governments and UNICEF.

6.2 Incorporate measures to address the education needs of disabled women and girls in all policies and programmes to achieve the UNESCO goal of Education for All.

Action by: Governments, UNESCO, UNICEF and UNDP, NGOs concerned with the enhancement and promotion of functional literacy.

6.3 Set targets for girls and women with disabilities for all education and literacy programmes, particularly those that focus on girls and women in general.

Action by: Governments and NGOs working on the promotion of education and functional literacy among marginalized groups.

6.4 Integrate the education and functional literacy needs of women and girls with disabilities in all UNESCO s activities to promote education of girls.

Action by: UNESCO and NGOs supporting UNESCO s objectives.

6.5 Support exchanges on models of integrated education for disabled children.

Action by: Governments, UNESCO and UNICEF.

6.6 Request relevant international agencies and bodies through their existing advisory services to governments in the ESCAP region, to provide technical advice to governments in the formulation of comprehensive plans for the education of children with disabilities, with attention to equal access for disabled girls.

Action by: UNESCO, UNICEF.

7.Training and employment

Strategic objective:

To provide equal opportunities for vocational training and employment for women and girls with disabilities.

Action to be taken:

7.1 Establish a system to identify and provide jobs in all sectors which are suited to the abilities, potential and aspirations of women with disabilities.

Action by: Governments, organizations involved in community development, vocational training and other human resource development activities.

7.2 Increase the intake of women and girls with disabilities in vocational training and integrate them with the requisite support services, into existing vocational training facilities.

Action by: Governments, NGOs involved in vocational training for persons with disabilities.

7.3 Provide opportunity for promotion of women with disabilities by upgrading their skills.

Action by: Governments, NGOs involved in vocational training for persons with disabilities.

7.4 Protect the rights of women with disabilities in the workplace.

Action by: Labour unions, organizations concerned with the rights of women workers

7.5 Protect the health and safety of women with disabilities in the workplace.

Action by: Labour unions, organizations concerned with the rights of women workers.

7.6 Educate employers and fellow employees to ensure the rights of women with disabilities to work free from psychological and/or sexual harassment.

Action by: Labour unions, organizations concerned with the rights of women workers.

7.7 Strengthen training in business development, product quality control, marketing and distribution of products and services by women with disabilities who are self-employed either as individuals or as a group.

Action by: Governments, UN agencies, NGOs working on small business development

7.8 Specify the inclusion of women with disabilities as target beneficiaries of credit schemes directed at poverty alleviation among women.

Action by: Governments, organizations concerned with provision of credit in urban and rural development projects.

8. Prevention of causes of disabilities

No additional recommendations for women and girls with disabilities.

9.Rehabilitation services (health and social development)

Strategic objective:

To ensure that women and girls with disabilities have equal access to health care and rehabilitation services.

Action to be taken:

9.1 Strengthen community health care and community-based rehabilitation services, and make available information about them; so that women and girls with disabilities will be able to have greater access to them.

Action by: Governments and NGOs involved in community-based rehabilitation

9.2 Increase the training of women with disabilities as community-based rehabilitation workers to enhance service delivery to more women and girls with disabilities.

Action by: Governments and NGOs involved in community-based rehabilitation.

10. Assistive devices

Strategic objective:

To increase the availability of assistive devices for women and girls with disabilities.

Action to be taken:

10.1 Promote the production and distribution of assistive devices which are appropriate for women and girls with disabilities and ensure that they have equal access to existing subsidies and concessions.

Action by: Governments and NGOs involved in the production and distribution of assistive devices.

11. Self-help organizations

Strategic objective:

To strengthen the capacity of women with disabilities to include their concerns into the agenda of self-help organizations and to provide them with equal opportunities to influence policy and decision-making in those organizations.

Action to be taken:

Self-help organizations of people with disabilities should:

11.1 Take special action to recruit more women and girls with disabilities as members so as to improve the gender balance in the organizations and better represent the interests of women and girls with disabilities.

11.2 Aim towards equal representation of women members in their policy- and decision-making bodies.

11.3 Form committees elected by the women members to promote the advancement of women and girls with disabilities.

11.4 Raise the awareness of women and girls with disabilities regarding gender issues, with a view to increasing their ability to analyse the barriers caused by gender bias and to develop the skills to deal with those barriers in everyday life.

11.5 Include equal numbers of women in leadership and management training activities.

11.6 Strengthen cooperation with women s organizations through joint projects on issues faced by women and girls with disabilities.

11.7 Approach, in collaboration with the national focal points on disability, all multilateral, bilateral and national funding agencies to ensure that women and girls with disabilities are explicitly cited as target beneficiaries of development programmes which are intended to be gender-sensitive.

12. Regional cooperation

Strategic objective:

To enhance the sharing of information and experience on the advancement of women and girls with disabilities and to strengthen their effectiveness in advocacy at relevant regional forums.

Action to be taken:

12.1 Encourage and support networking among women with disabilities, and \between women with disabilities and mainstream women s organizations as well as other NGOs.

Action by: Self-help organizations of people with disabilities, women's' organizations and NGOs.

12.2 Ensure equal representation of men and women in bilateral exchange programmes in the field of disability.

Action by: Governments and NGOs.

12.3 Discussion on the progress of efforts to promote the implementation of the recommendations regarding women and girls with disabilities should be included in the agenda of the meetings of the Asia-Pacific Inter-organizational Task Force on Disability-related Concerns and the biennial regional meetings to review the progress of the Decade.

Action by: All members of the Inter-organizational Task-Force on Disability-related Concerns.

12.4 Country reports and reports by NGOs for future biennial regional reviews should include gender-segregated data and information on women and girls with disabilities with respect to implementation of all areas of the Agenda for Action.

Action by: Governments and NGOs.