In August 2022, WEI traveled to Geneva for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic for an in-person session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee). We sponsored a colleague from the Indonesia Mental Health Association to participate in the CRPD Committee’s country review of Indonesia and adjacent meetings. The results of these joint advocacy meetings were:
- Drawing particular attention to violations of the rights of women, girls, and gender minorities with psychosocial disabilities, concerns that were reflected in the Committee’s concluding observations which called on the Indonesian government to address such abuses.
- Securing a long-sought meeting by Indonesia Mental Health Association with the Ministry of Social Affairs, which led to…
- Persuading the Ministry to conduct a joint site visit to an institutional facility to observe concerning conditions and take necessary follow-up steps to address them.
Increasingly, WEI is working side-by-side with our partners to effectively advocate with international human rights bodies and also to keep the pressure on at the country level to hold governments accountable for upholding rights at the intersection of gender and disability.