Boat in the Strait of Sicily, 40 miles from the Libyan coast. Photo © Franco Pagetti/VII
UNFPA – 3 December 2015
UNITED NATIONS, New York – “The health and rights of women and adolescents should not be treated like an afterthought in humanitarian response,” Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA’s Executive Director, said today at the launch of the agency’s flagship report, The State of World Population 2015, in London.
Humanitarian crises are taking an enormous toll around the world. More people are displaced today than at any time since World War II, and among those affected, women and girls are the most vulnerable.
More than a quarter of the 100 million people in need of humanitarian assistance are women and adolescent girls of childbearing age, between 15 and 49. They face mounting risks and vulnerabilities, but have limited access to services and insufficient funding to meet their unique health and protection needs.
On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, SRSG Santos Pais calls for an end to violence against children with disabilities and adds her voice to the Campaign to #ENDViolence against Children with Disabilities.
There are at least 93 million children with disabilities around the world. Many are considered to be a cause of shame to their families and a curse and misfortune for their communities. The lives of children with disabilities can be surrounded by stigma, discrimination, cultural prejudices, ill-perceptions and shocking invisibility. In addition, children with disabilities are at dramatically heightened risk of violence, neglect, abuse and exploitation.
In spite of limited data and research, available studies reveal an alarming prevalence of violence against children with disabilities – from higher vulnerability to physical and emotional violence when they are young to greater risks of sexual violence as they reach puberty.
Women Enabled International had overwhelming success with our Survey and Mapping project of activists and organizations, working worldwide for the rights of women and girls with disabilities.
Nearly 300 key advocates from over sixty countries participated in the survey, provided in English, Spanish and French, and I’d like to share some of our preliminary results with you:
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Among the key issues that organizations address, in terms of women and girls with disabilities, there was a varied distribution of responses:
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has welcomed Liechtenstein and Monaco signing up to the Council of Europeconvention against human trafficking today.
“People trafficking is a hideous abuse of human rights which has no place in 21st century Europe,” he said.
“Our legally-binding treaty helps countries to prevent trafficking, to protect victims and to prosecute offenders, as well as promoting cooperation between countries of origin, transit and destination.
“I call on those Council of Europe member states which have yet to sign or ratify the convention to do so at the earliest possible opportunity.”
To mark the tenth anniversary of the convention, the Secretary General wrote to the authorities in the Czech Republic, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Russia and Turkey in June 2015 urging them to move towards signing and ratifying the convention without delay.
