Equal access for women and girls with disabilities will benefit societies and humanity at large

Women and girls with disabilities face multiple barriers in most areas of life, and these barriers create situations of multiple and intersecting discrimination. One of these areas is equal access to economic opportunity, especially in countries of the global South. Roughly half the world’s population still lives on the equivalent of about US$2 a day, and in too many places having a job does not guarantee an escape from poverty.

Above all, women with disabilities in so-called developing countries have almost no chance of job training and employment with an adequate income. The employment rate of women with disabilities worldwide is below 20 per cent; it is around 30 per cent for women without disabilities, while 53 per cent of men with disabilities have paid employment.

Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. DPI is lobbying and fighting for a change in politics, for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and for our human rights — including the empowerment of women and girls with disabilities, job training and opportunities for employment so they can earn their own living. For the Goals to be reached, everyone needs to do their part: governments and civil society, each and every one of us.