Biwako Millennium FrameworkThe Commission, at its fifty-eighth session, adopted resolution 58/4 of 22 May 2002 on promoting an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for people with disabilities in the Asian and Pacific region in the twenty-first century, by which it proclaimed the extension of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002, for another decade, 2003-2012. The present document sets out a draft regional framework for action that provides regional policy recommendations for action by Governments in the region and concerned stakeholders to achieve an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for persons with disabilities in the new decade, 2003-2012. The regional framework for action identifies seven areas for priority action in the new decade. Each priority area contains critical issues, targets and the action required.
The regional framework for action explicitly incorporates the millennium development goals and their relevant targets to ensure that concerns relating to persons with disabilities become an integral part of efforts to achieve the goals.
Women with disabilities are one of the most marginalized groups in society, as they are multiply disadvantaged through their status as women, as persons with disabilities, and are over-represented among persons living in poverty. Women and girls with disabilities, to a greater extent than boys and men with disabilities, face discrimination within the family, are denied access to health care, education, vocational training, employment and income generation opportunities, and are excluded from social and community activities.
Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for Persons with DisabilitiesThe Governments at the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting adopted the Ministerial Declaration on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 2013–2022, and the Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific. The Incheon Strategy provides the Asian and Pacific region, and the world, with the first set of regionally agreed disability-inclusive development goals. Developed over more than two years of consultations with governments and civil society stakeholders, the Incheon Strategy comprises 10 goals, 27 targets and 62 indicators. The Incheon Strategy builds on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action and Biwako Plus Five towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific.
Goal 6: Ensure gender equality and women’s empowerment
Girls and women with disabilities face multiple forms of disadvantage. Isolation, compounded by dependency on caregivers, renders them extremely vulnerable to many forms of exploitation, violence and abuse, with attendant risks of sexually transmitted infections, including of HIV and unintended pregnancy and higher rates of maternal and infant death.
Biwako Five PlusThe Biwako Millennium Framework for Action contained 21 targets categorized under 7 priority areas. Although the dates for achieving targets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 16, 17 and 18 were set before 2007, the Governments and other stakeholders that have not yet attained those targets may need to strengthen their efforts in order to achieve them as soon as possible.
Further efforts need to be made in order to achieve those targets where progress has been found to be inadequate and where action has been lagging. The following are additional actions that may help countries to achieve the targets under each of the priority area
B. Women with disabilities – Actions required
14. Governments should promote:
(a) The inclusion of gender perspectives in disability-relevant policies, programmes, plans and legislation;
(b) The inclusion of the perspectives of women with disabilities in the development of gender-relevant policies, programmes, plans and legislation;
(c) The participation of women with disabilities and organizations of women with disabilities in the processes of developing both gender-relevant and disability-related policies, programmes, plans and legislation.
World Report on DisabilityGeneralizations about “disability” or “people with disabilities” can mislead. Persons with disabilities have diverse personal factors with differences in gender, age, socioeconomic status, sexuality, ethnicity, or cultural heritage. Each has his or her personal preferences and responses to disability (47). Also while disability correlates with disadvantage, not all people with disabilities are equally disadvantaged. Women with disabilities experience the combined disadvantages associated with gender as well as disability, and may be less likely to marry than non-disabled women (48, 49). People who experience mental health conditions or intellectual impairments appear to be more disadvantaged in many settings than those who experience physical or sensory impairments (50). People with more severe impairments often experience greater disadvantage, as shown by evidence ranging from rural Guatemala (51) to employment data from Europe (52). Conversely, wealth and status can help overcome activity limitations and participation restrictions (52).
The Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities.On December 13, 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the first ever global treaty on the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities – the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol. With more than 40 articles contained in the CRPD, the treaty looks to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities across all areas of life including; education, employment, accessibility.
Article 6 of the UNCRPD – Women with disabilities.
States Parties recognize that women and girls with disabilities are subject to multiple discrimination and in this regard shall take measures to ensure the full and equal enjoyment by them of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure the full development, advancement and empowerment of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of the human rights and fundamental freedoms set out in the present Convention.
National Policy for Persons with DisabilitiesThe main purpose of the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities (Pakistan 2002) is “to provide by 2025 an environment that would allow full realization of the potential of persons with disabilities through their inclusive mainstreaming and providing them full support of the government, private sector and civil society.”
(Pakistan 2002, p. 4)
The National Policy emphasizes the need to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities in view of the significant proportion to the population as well as the recent developments in disability policy frameworks of which Pakistan has committed to. It identifies the need to provide “a comprehensive range of facilities for persons with disabilities from pre-natal care through education, vocational training, employment and support during adult life” through the collaboration of the Government and non-governmental organizations in different levels, as well as the involvement of families of persons with disabilities, professionals and communities (Pakistan 2002, preamble).The National Policy is guided by the following principles: human rights; justice and equality; non-discrimination and equity; a rights-based approach to disability rather than a welfare approach; the need for a holistic approach in dealing with disability concerns; and active collaboration among all stakeholders.
