Organization to continue mission of support for women with disabilities

The China Disabled Persons' Federation will take concrete actions to safeguard rights, dignity and value for women with disabilities, federation chair Zhang Haidi said, as the nation has made headway in curbing female poverty in recent years.

The federation will further strengthen international collaboration to protect disabled women's rights in education, employment and social security and bolster their involvement in cultural and public affairs, she said at a gathering in Beijing on Thursday.

The event was jointly held by the federation, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, UN Women, the UN Population Fund and Rehabilitation International.

Zhang, also president of Rehabilitation International, an international advocacy group for disability rights, said global efforts to achieve sustainable development must benefit and empower disabled women, who, as major contributors to world peace and stability, are also in dire need of assistance.

The federation has been working for years to improve the nation's public service system to the benefit of the disabled community, she added.

At the meeting, the federation and other event organizers released a document titled "Call to Action: Enabling Sisters with Disabilities to Join in Shaping the Future We Want", calling for a coordinated global effort to empower disabled women and girls.

The meeting came as the world marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, which rolled out the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals five years ago.

This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the fourth and the most recent World Conference on Women, which was held in Beijing and remembered as a major event on worldwide gender equality.

The federation said in a media release half the world's 1 billion disabled population are women and girls, who face "double discrimination" for being female and disabled. The COVID-19 outbreak has created new challenges in this area.

China has helped more than 93 million farmers escape rural poverty since late 2012, when China renewed a nationwide campaign to curb domestic poverty. The All-China Women's Federation said half of those who shook off poverty during the period are female.