We mark International Women’s Day by highlighting our Gender Mainstreaming Package! The Package is a practical set of tools to help organisations of persons with disabilities meaningfully integrate gender equality into every aspect of work.
Why this package?
Many organisations of persons with disabilities still lack the resources, structure, or capacity to fully address gender inequality. Yet gender-based discrimination and violence are among the most pressing issues of our movement, affecting women and girls with disabilities at alarming levels. This is compounded by exclusion from decision-making, inaccessible services, gender stereotypes against women and girls with disabilities, and the absence of gender-inclusive policies.
Our Gender Mainstreaming Package helps organisations take concrete steps to address these issues, strengthen internal and external procedures, enhancing gender equality, and ensure that the voices of women and girls with disabilities shape policies that impact their lives.
Inside the Package
- Guidelines for Adopting a Gender Action Plan: the Gender Action Plan provides step-by-step guidance to help organisations set clear commitments, identify gaps, create goals, allocate resources, and monitor progress.
- Guidelines for Creating a Women’s Committee: Women’s Committees play a vital role in ensuring that the perspectives of women and girls with disabilities are heard. These guidelines offer ideas and support on how to create, resource, and maintain a Women’s Committee, ensuring meaningful participation of women and girls with disabilities within organisations.
- Gender Mainstreaming Toolkit Template: This template supports the staff of an organisation in applying a gender lens to all areas of work. It is designed to be adapted to local needs, making gender mainstreaming both realistic and actionable.
- Self-Assessment Test: The self-assessment allows organisations to evaluate their current level of gender mainstreaming. It is an entry point for organisations of persons with disabilities at any stage of their gender equality journey.
Strengthening intersectionality and inclusivity in the disability movement
The Gender Mainstreaming Package supports organisations of persons with disabilities in applying an intersectional approach. It encourages organisations to engage women and girls with disabilities in all their diversity, including those most often excluded.
It will allow organisations to can more effectively prevent violence, promote autonomy and leadership, and support the rights and requirements of women and girls with disabilities across Europe, and beyond.
A call to action
On International Women’s Day, EDF calls on our movement, policymakers, allies, and partners to reaffirm their commitment to ensure equality for women with disabilities and to end gender-based violence. For that, we must have a movement that reflects and uplifts the voices of all women and girls with disabilities.
Whether your organisation is just starting to address gender equality or working to improve its current practices, the Gender Mainstreaming Package offers tools and guidance to support that process!