English
العربية
简体中文
Nederlands
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
Português
Русский
EspañolFighting for disability rights
Join our Equal World campaign for an end to discrimination
The campaign
Equal World
Around the world, there are one billion people with disabilities. Many are routinely denied their rights to education, employment, health care and political participation, and during the COVID-19 pandemic this inequality has only increased. The Equal World campaign exists to call for disability rights to be upheld worldwide.
We need your help to make a more equal world a reality. Find out what you can do to fight for disability rights!
Why we campaign
Disability discrimination affects millions of people around the world. But this is not an inevitable situation – together, we can change it.
Aparna, Zainab and Preeti
Experiences of women with disabilities during COVID-19
UN disability committee achieves historic gender parity milestone
December 2020
Six women have been elected* to the UN committee that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, meaning gender parity has been achieved for the first time – a result that answers the call of Sightsavers’ Equal World campaign for the committee to better represent the people it exists to serve.
The committee is made up of 18 members, with nine positions up for election every two years. Sightsavers previously campaigned for better representation of women in the 2018 election, which saw the number of women on the committee grow from just one to six. In 2020, campaign supporters also called for greater diversity of members, including people with different types of impairment and people from low and middle income countries.
The six women elected are Rosa Idalia Aldana Salguero (Guatemala), Odelia Fitoussi (Israel), Gerel Dondovdorj (Mongolia), Soumia Amrani (Morocco), Vivian Fernández de Torrijo (Panama) and Saowalak Thongkuay (Thailand). This means that of the 18-member committee, 12 members will be women.
Other positive results of the vote include the re-election of Sir Robert Martin from New Zealand, who is the first member of the committee with an intellectual disability.
Tessa Murphy, Sightsavers’ campaign manager, said: “Our campaign supporters from across the globe played a leading role in securing this long-awaited change with nearly 4,000 campaigners sending messages to their UN representatives to uphold disability rights, and call for gender equality and diversity on the CRPD committee. Thanks to their support we now have a committee that better reflects the very different challenges faced by women and men with disabilities. While we’re happy to see Sir Robert Martin re-elected, there is still a need for better representation of impairment, and more members from low income countries. But we’re thrilled to have finally reached the goal of gender parity on the committee.”
*This news story was updated following confirmation of the ninth member, who was voted on to the committee on 11 December 2020 after the third round of voting (following the election of eight people on 30 November).
Six women have been elected* to the UN committee that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, meaning gender parity has been achieved for the first time – a result that answers the call of Sightsavers’ Equal World campaign for the committee to better represent the people it exists to serve.
The committee is made up of 18 members, with nine positions up for election every two years. Sightsavers previously campaigned for better representation of women in the 2018 election, which saw the number of women on the committee grow from just one to six. In 2020, campaign supporters also called for greater diversity of members, including people with different types of impairment and people from low and middle income countries.
The six women elected are Rosa Idalia Aldana Salguero (Guatemala), Odelia Fitoussi (Israel), Gerel Dondovdorj (Mongolia), Soumia Amrani (Morocco), Vivian Fernández de Torrijo (Panama) and Saowalak Thongkuay (Thailand). This means that of the 18-member committee, 12 members will be women.
Other positive results of the vote include the re-election of Sir Robert Martin from New Zealand, who is the first member of the committee with an intellectual disability.
Ali Bough, Sightsavers Ireland’s communications and public engagement manager, said: “We’re very happy with the result of the committee election. We’re grateful to our campaign supporters, who took action by sending hundreds of messages to TDs, calling on them to ensure Ireland voted for diversity and gender equality in the committee election. Thanks to their support, along with nearly 4,000 messages sent by other campaigners around the world to their UN representatives, we now have a committee that better reflects the very different challenges faced by both women and men with disabilities.”
*This news story was updated following confirmation of the ninth member, who was voted on to the committee on 11 December 2020 after the third round of voting (following the election of eight people on 30 November).
Six women have been elected* to the UN committee that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, meaning gender parity has been achieved for the first time – a result that answers the call of Sightsavers’ Equal World campaign for the committee to better represent the people it exists to serve.
The committee is made up of 18 members, with nine positions up for election every two years. Sightsavers previously campaigned for better representation of women in the 2018 election, which saw the number of women on the committee grow from just one to six. In 2020, campaign supporters also called for greater diversity of members, including people with different types of impairment and people from low and middle income countries.
The six women elected are Rosa Idalia Aldana Salguero (Guatemala), Odelia Fitoussi (Israel), Gerel Dondovdorj (Mongolia), Soumia Amrani (Morocco), Vivian Fernández de Torrijo (Panama) and Saowalak Thongkuay (Thailand). This means that of the 18-member committee, 12 members will be women.
Other positive results of the vote include the re-election of Sir Robert Martin from New Zealand, who is the first member of the committee with an intellectual disability.
Tessa Murphy, Sightsavers’ campaign manager, said: “Our campaign supporters from across the globe played a leading role in securing this long-awaited change with nearly 4,000 campaigners sending messages to their UN representatives to uphold disability rights, and call for gender equality and diversity on the CRPD committee. Thanks to their support we now have a committee that better reflects the very different challenges faced by women and men with disabilities. While we’re happy to see Sir Robert Martin re-elected, there is still a need for better representation of impairment, and more members from low income countries. But we’re thrilled to have finally reached the goal of gender parity on the committee.”
*This news story was updated following confirmation of the ninth member, who was voted on to the committee on 11 December 2020 after the third round of voting (following the election of eight people on 30 November).
Will you fight with us?
What we're calling for
- The rights of people with disabilities to be upheld
- Governments and organisations to show leadership on disability inclusion
- People with disabilities to have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives
- The UN and world leaders to be held accountable for putting inclusive policies into action
Campaigning worldwide
Together we can end disability discrimination
The UN has published a disability strategy, committing to the full inclusion and active participation of people with disabilities in all its work. We need to make sure that it translates from words to action, and results in the UN’s member states making real improvements in the lives of people with disabilities around the world.
We’re taking action for disability rights in countries around the world, from Bangladesh to Uganda. Find out more by choosing a country from the dropdown list below.
Join the fight for disability rights
