Yangon, Myanmar “I applied to a local tailor. When they saw my disability, they rejected my application for no other reason,” said Myo Myo, a 19-year-old woman from Yangon, Myanmar. Told.
“I was really sad. Why didn’t they want to give me a chance?”
According to a 2019 survey, about 6 million people in the country are disabled. As is the case globally, members of this community in Myanmar face unequal access to health care, education, opportunities and employment. Discrimination is only exacerbating amid the country’s political crisis and his COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities (ages 15 and over) has more than doubled.
For some 3.5 million women and girls with disabilities in Myanmar, gender inequality complicates these challenges. For example, gender normative stigma combined with biased attitudes about the ability to exercise bodily autonomy can lead reproductive women to face double prejudice in accessing her health information and services.
“Women do not have equal opportunities and equal rights in our society. But it is even worse for women and girls with disabilities,” Myo Myo said.
allow full participation
Overlapping and intersecting challenges increase the vulnerability of women and girls with disabilities around the world. In some countries, the proportion of people with disabilities living below the poverty line is twice as high as her in the general population, and a UNFPA study found that women with disabilities are more likely to experience gender-based violence. It has been shown to be up to 10 times more likely to
Denial of sexual and reproductive health information and services in this community is all too common. More than half of women with intellectual disabilities were told they should not have children.
“People think we can’t do anything,” said Sabai, 20, from Yangon. “We want to show them what we are capable of, that we can do it just like everyone else.”
On the ground in Myanmar, UNFPA is working with local organizations to empower women and young people with disabilities to participate fully in public life. Initiatives supported include, among others, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and initiatives to promote awareness of gender-based violence and build business skills.
Myo Myo and Sabai both attend UNFPA-sponsored training sessions on vocational skills development and receive start-up funding to support their businesses.
“Working with international and regional organizations, we can change community perceptions and raise awareness to end discrimination against people with disabilities,” said Myo Myo.
What do you mean by “can”
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) reaffirms that all persons with disabilities must be guaranteed human rights and fundamental freedoms. Myanmar ratified the CRPD on 7 December 2011. Nonetheless, violations of the rights of persons with disabilities in the country, as well as people around the world, continue.
Globally, activists and advocates are working to change that. “Our intervention has made a significant contribution to the initiation and promotion of a disability-inclusive society in Myanmar,” said Ms Eri Taniguchi, UNFPA Acting Deputy Representative for Myanmar.
Among women with disabilities impacted by these interventions are Myo Myo and Sabai, who both run small businesses today. Myo Myo sews, knits and crochet in her home, while Sabai sells rice balls and grilled fish at the shop she opened and delivers her orders by electric bike.
“Like everyone else, I have dreams that I want to achieve. rice field.
