During the seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) the GDF organized a side event in which panelists shared new knowledge, evidence, and best practices emerging from the GDF programmes across multiple regions. Their contributions highlighted what is working on the ground—and what must still change—to ensure that women and girls with disabilities can access justice, protection, and survivor‑centred services.
This discussion came at a pivotal moment as we roll out the GDF’s new strategy, which places gender equality, intersectionality, and justice at the core of our mission. The insights shared during the session reaffirmed why this strategic shift is both urgent and essential.
Voices from the discussion
Ms. Katja Pehrman
Ambassador for Human Rights and Disability Inclusion, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
“We are very pleased to hear that all programmes of the Global Disability Fund promote gender equality and that 48 % of the programmes address gender-based violence. We see this event as a concrete step towards supporting UN agencies and organizations of persons with disabilities in driving systemic change aligned with CSW70 outcomes.”
Ms. Annika Otterstedt
Assistant Director General at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)
“Collaborative mechanisms and pooled funds are important for strengthening justice systems and addressing the cross-cutting nature of gender-based violence. The Global Disability Fund is one example, using shared resources and disability‑inclusive approaches so programmes become more accessible, more accountable, and more centered on survivors.”
Dr. Ola Abualghaib
Director of the UN Global Disability Fund
“In line with our new strategy, which places gender equality, intersectionality, and justice at the core of our mission, the Global Disability Fund recognizes women and girls with disabilities as being at the heart of change. We will continue working with partners around the world to advance country-led reforms and ensure that their rights, leadership, and dignity are fully respected.”
Ms. Mukhabbat Rakhimova
Board Chairperson, ‘Sharoit Plus’ Public Association of Persons with Disabilities, Tashkent City, Uzbekistan.
“Through our collaboration with UNFPA in the GDF funded programme, we have demonstrated the importance of engaging women with disabilities as equal partners in advancing gender equality and disability rights […] Our stories remind us that women with disabilities are not only survivors — we are leaders, we are advocates, and we are agents of change.”
Ms. Natalia Oviedo
Senior Advisor to the Mayor’s Office of Cali & Manager of the Care System, CuidArte.
“The [Unpaid care, disability and gender transformative approach] collaboration helped us move from a care‑as‑a‑service to care and support for autonomy. It also supported the development of an intervention model that connects care services with gender‑based violence prevention and response and strengthened institutional capacity to better respond to the needs of women with disabilities.”
Ms. Fayel Achieng Odeny
Advocacy Officer, Kenyan Association of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities. Partner of the GDF funded programme.
“If we are serious about access to justice for women and girls, we must invest in systems that protect, support, and value those who carry it, because without that, justice remains out of reach.”
Ms. Abia Akram
Global Forum on Leadership of Women with Disabilities
“We cannot continue ignoring women and girls with disabilities… Addressing gender‑based violence is central to advancing our international human rights and gender equality commitments—linking local realities to global agendas.”
Ms. Dilora Ganieva
National Programme Specialist on Gender and Social Norm Change, UNFPA Uzbekistan
“The GDF programme in Uzbekistan, implemented with UNFPA’s support, has focused on ensuring that these reforms reach women and girls with disabilities — and for the first time, organizations of persons with disabilities were engaged as partners within the national response system.”
Ms. Juanita Ardila Hidalgo
Care and Disability Inclusion Programme Coordinator, Gender Team, UNDP
One of the most transformative aspects of the UN multi-country program funded by the Global Disability Fund is that it does not treat care expansion and inclusion as separate agendas — it actively works to ensure that care systems are disability-inclusive by design.
Mr. A.H. Monjurul Kabir
Senior Adviser and Global Team Leader, Gender and Disability Inclusion, UN Women
“If we go back three years, all the countries we are covering through this programme had a care agenda — what was missing was disability inclusion. The GDF programme made that relevant.”
Key Outcomes from the Webinar
Women with Disabilities Must Lead Systemic Change
Across regions, evidence shows that programmes are more inclusive and effective when women with disabilities, their organizations, and their lived expertise shape policies, reforms, and service design.
This requires going beyond consultation. OPDs must be equal partners in prevention and justice systems. When OPDs take on institutional roles, protection systems become more trusted and responsive. Uzbekistan offers a clear example, where a GDF‑funded programme (implemented in partnership with UNDP, UNICEF, national institutions, and organizations of persons with disabilities) is advancing disability‑inclusive Gender‑Based Violence (GBV) prevention and protection services.
GBV Against Women with Disabilities Is Structural — Not Individual
Speakers emphasized that violence begins earlier for women with disabilities, occurs in more settings, and is often normalized within caregiving environments.
Barriers such as discriminatory laws, inaccessible police stations, and non-existent referral pathways make reporting nearly impossible. Addressing this demands system-level reform, not isolated services.
Inclusive Care Systems Are a Direct GBV Prevention Strategy
Evidence from the GDF Unpaid Care, Disability and Gender Transformative Approach programme, implemented in Colombia, Kenya, Panama, Tanzania and Mozambique, highlighted that inclusive, regulated, accessible care systems reduce GBV risk by decreasing isolation, increasing autonomy, and reducing reliance on informal or untrained caregivers.
This is not a parallel agenda: care systems are protection systems, and investing in them strengthens national GBV prevention efforts.
The Gendered Burden of Care Drives Inequality and Vulnerability
Globally, women perform the vast majority of disability-related caregiving, often unpaid, unsupported, and unrecognized. In Kenya alone, 75.5% of caregivers lack formal training.
This economic and emotional burden fuels dependency and invisibility, reinforcing structural inequality. Policies must explicitly address the gendered dynamics of care to reduce GBV risk and support women’s economic rights.
Awareness and Access to Information Remain Major Gaps
Findings from Cali demonstrated that many women within care ecosystems do not know how to report violence or recognize it, particularly when abuse is normalized in caregiving relationships.
Effective prevention requires:
- Accessible legal information
- Clear referral pathways
- Institutional capacity to respond
Without these, even strong laws remain out of reach for women with disabilities.
Laws Must Reach Women with Disabilities — National to Local
Countries like Uzbekistan have shown that legal reform works only when implementation is disability-inclusive.
Meanwhile, Kenya and Colombia reinforced that national-level policies must connect to local action, community-led models, and coordinated services. Fragmentation weakens prevention; integration strengthens it.
Data, Accountability, and Technology Preparedness Need Urgent Attention
A cross-cutting insight was the major lack of data on GBV in care settings and other environments specific to women with disabilities. Without disaggregated, systematic data collection, accountability is weak.
Speakers also raised alarms about technology‑facilitated violence, which disproportionately affects deaf women, women with psychosocial disabilities, and women with intellectual disabilities.
Stronger monitoring frameworks, accessibility audits, and accountability mechanisms are essential to close these gaps.
What This Means for GDF
The side event reaffirmed the strength of the GDF model: country-level programmes built in partnership with OPDs, governments, and UN agencies are producing real evidence of what works.
Over the next five years, GDF will focus on:
- Embedding OPD leadership across all programme designs
- Scaling proven local models
- Strengthening data and accountability frameworks
- Supporting governments to integrate disability inclusion across prevention and justice systems
The message from CSW70 was clear: When women with disabilities lead, systems change and violence is no longer inevitable.
Moving Forward
As we implement the GDF’s new strategy, the insights shared during this event will guide our efforts to scale intersectional, inclusive, and justice‑driven reforms. Together with governments, UN agencies, and OPDs, we remain committed to ensuring that no woman or girl with a disability is left behind.
A Thank You to Our Partners
We extend our heartfelt appreciation to all our partners for their active participation in this important discussion, especially to the government of Sweden and Finland for their steadfast support to the UN Global Disability Fund. Their leadership and commitment to gender equality, disability inclusion, and justice continue to strengthen global efforts and empower our collective work.
Watch the full recording of the event