Women and Young Persons with Disabilities: Equal rights and a life free of violence

UNFPA’s programmes work to ensure that women, adolescents, young people and marginalized groups, including persons with disabilities, are empowered to make decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health and rights and able to live free of discrimination and violence.

In addition to efforts addressing the needs and rights of persons with disabilities within UNFPA’s country programmes globally, UNFPA, with the support of Spain, implements the We Decide Programme. This programme promotes the human rights and social inclusion of women and young persons with disabilities. Access to sexual and reproductive health services, information and education for persons with disabilities, including to prevent and address sexual and gender-based violence, are at the centre of the programme. 

We Decide has a strong gender component through its focus on girls and women with disabilities, and aims to be a participatory approach with persons with disabilities engaged in its design and implementation.

The goal of We Decide is to build a model of intervention based on human rights, in line with the standards and guidelines agreed at the international level.

We Decide works in five key areas:

• Presenting state-of-the-art knowledge and data, including best practices
• Promoting global dialogue and advocacy
• Developing guidance and standards of intervention
• Strengthening programmes through stronger disability inclusion in sexual and reproductive health and rights and efforts to end gender-based violence
• Building partnerships with organizations of persons with disabilities and across other social movements