Humanitarian Emergencies and Situations of Risk for Women, Girls, and Gender Diverse Persons with Disabilities: Submission for the CRPD Committee’s Day of General Discussion on Article 11

Author: Women Enabled International, 

Endorsers: National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN), Women with Disabilities India Network (WWDIN), Shanta Memorial Rehabilitation Center (SMRC), Disabled Women in Africa (DIWA), U.S. Alliance of Women, Nonbinary Persons, and Other Gender Minorities with Disabilities (U.S. Alliance)

Date submitted: February 15, 2023

WEI partnered with NIDWAN, WWDIN, SMRC, DIWA, and the U.S. Alliance to prepare a submission to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee), highlighting documented lived experiences of women, girls, and gender-diverse persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the context of climate change. The submission also includes a brief summary of normative frameworks focused on gender and/or disability that apply to and are informative for the CRPD Committee’s consideration of the scope of Article 11 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The submission concludes with a series of recommendations at the intersection of gender and disability for the CRPD Committee and for States Parties on the scope and implementation of Article 11, which focuses on situations of risk including humanitarian emergencies. The submission will be used by the Committee to develop a general comment on Article 11, providing States with concrete guidance on how to implement this important part of the CRPD. 

The submission largely relies on WEI’s previous research and work with these and other partners, including our:

• COVID-19 Response
• Documentation and analysis of intersectional discrimination in the Pacific region, available at the following links:  
  • 🇫🇯Fiji: https://bit.ly/PwDFiji   
  • 🇼🇸Samoa: https://bit.ly/PwDSamoa  
  • 🇻🇺Vanuatu: https://bit.ly/PwDVanuatu