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CVIA Advocates for Disabled Persons' Political Participation at UN Panel

  • info44995776
  • Mar 20
  • 2 min read

Updated: Mar 21

The Centre for Voters Initiative & Action's Executive Director, Samad Quraishi, is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland with colleagues from AccessibilityAtlas, including Eric Turcan, Antonia Tarfulea, and Dinu Antonescu from Romania. Taken during the March review of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 32nd Session for the Day of General Discussion on Article 29, focusing on participation in the public and political life.
The Centre joined European-based non-profit organisation AccessibilityAtlas in Geneva, Switzerland, to expand our thematic focus of civic participation to include advocacy for persons with disabilities.

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – On 20 March 2025, the Centre participated in a panel at the United Nations at Geneva on Article 29, discussing the implementation of rights for persons with disabilities to participate in the political space.

Joining the panel discussion on the participation of persons with disabilities in governments were Committee Experts Magino Corporán and Gerel Dondovdorj; Peter Kearns, Independent Living Movement Ireland; Melina Salamin, Sofia De Sousa and Megan Gillion, Fovahm; Joerg Weber, from South Africa; Samantha Pinna, University of Cagliari; and Samad Quraishi, Centre for Voters Initiative & Action.

The Centre was concerned with systemic barriers preventing persons with disabilities from fully participating in political life, particularly in three areas:


  1. Limited voter education programmes restrict disabled individuals' ability to engage in elections. We noted that the Committee has rarely enquired about civic education programmes for persons with disabilities, despite their importance in fostering long-term political participation.

  2. While national representation for disabled persons has improved, municipal-level inclusion remains poor. Insufficient financial, human, and technical resources hinder persons with disabilities from running for or serving in local government.

  3. Disabled women face additional barriers to candidacy due to biases within political parties, which act as gatekeepers to elected office. Despite existing quotas in some countries, implementation remains weak due to resistance from political party structures.


Improving issues across these three addressed areas are key to achieving long-term political representation for persons with disabilities, and realisation of their Article 29 rights under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We hope the Committee will be more mindful of these issues in future dialogues. We invite any interested parties to read our full report here.



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