Arria-formula Meeting on Persons with Disabilities in Situations of Armed Conflict
Tomorrow afternoon (6 December), Guyana and Slovenia will convene an Arria-formula meeting to consider the implementation of resolution 2475 on the protection of persons with disabilities in armed conflict, which was adopted on 20 June 2019. Marking the resolution’s five-year anniversary, the meeting is being co-sponsored by the UK and Poland, which were the resolution’s co-penholders. (Poland was a Council member in 2018 and 2019.) The meeting will also provide an opportunity to acknowledge the International Day of Persons with Disabilities observed on 3 December. The expected briefers are Heba Hagrass, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities; Laetitia Courtois, Permanent Observer of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the UN; and a representative of Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organisation that investigates and reports on human rights abuses.
The meeting, which is titled “Persons with disabilities in situations of armed conflict and related humanitarian crises – Heightening visibility and eliminating discrimination”, will begin at 3 pm EST in the ECOSOC chamber and will be broadcast live on UNTV. In addition to Security Council members, the meeting is open to the broader UN membership, permanent observers, and UN entities.
Background
Resolution 2475 is the only stand-alone Council resolution on the protection of persons with disabilities in armed conflict. It was unanimously adopted after five months of negotiations, following a December 2018 Arria-formula meeting on the issue convened by Poland. The resolution addressed the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on persons with disabilities and underscored the need to include them in humanitarian responses and ensure their protection in line with international law. It reaffirmed commitments enshrined in the Geneva Conventions and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)—particularly Article 11, which pertains to their rights in situations of risk such as armed conflict contexts and humanitarian emergencies—and called on member states and parties to conflict to safeguard the safety, rights, and access to essential services for persons with disabilities.
The resolution further urged parties to armed conflict to protect civilians with disabilities and prevent abuses, while encouraging states to facilitate access to justice and reparations for victims. It emphasised the importance of providing accessible and inclusive humanitarian assistance, as well as post-conflict recovery programmes tailored to the specific needs of persons with disabilities, including women and children. Furthermore, it called on member states to promote the participation of persons with disabilities in decision-making processes, particularly in conflict prevention, resolution, and peacebuilding.
The resolution also recognised the need for timely data and analysis of the impact of armed conflict on persons with disabilities. To this end, it requested the Secretary-General to include in both his thematic and country-specific reporting, where pertinent, information and related recommendations on issues of relevance to persons with disabilities in armed conflict. The resolution also stated the Security Council’s intention to invite persons with disabilities to brief the Council on relevant thematic and country-specific areas.
Tomorrow’s Meeting
The concept note prepared by the co-organisers for tomorrow’s Arria-formula meeting says that the purpose of the meeting is to focus attention on the heightened vulnerabilities faced by persons with disabilities in armed conflict and related humanitarian crises. According to the concept note, persons with disabilities comprise approximately 15 percent of the global population, but this figure can rise to as much as a 30 percent share of the population in conflict-affected areas. These individuals face amplified challenges, including discrimination, violence, abandonment, and exclusion from basic services, which are further exacerbated during crises: up to 75 percent of persons with disabilities in conflict settings face substantial challenges in accessing critical humanitarian assistance such as food, water, shelter, and healthcare. Women and children with disabilities are particularly vulnerable, as women face increased risk of sexual violence and children face additional obstacles in accessing services.
Similarly, the Secretary-General’s 2024 annual protection of civilians (PoC) report, dated 14 May and covering developments in 2023, said that persons with disabilities continued to be impacted disproportionately by conflict and noted several country-specific examples illustrating their vulnerabilities. In Afghanistan, persons with disabilities faced physical, institutional, and attitudinal barriers to accessing assistance. The destruction of homes by conflict parties in Myanmar led to casualties among persons with disabilities and older persons who were unable to flee. In northeast Nigeria, persons with disabilities were killed after they remained in areas of conflict, while women with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities were killed due to accusations of witchcraft. Persons with disabilities and older persons in Gaza were unable to evacuate, lacked safe passage and accessible transport, or were unable to use assistive devices on destroyed roads and remained in their homes at risk of attack. In Ukraine, between February 2022 and September 2023, the number of persons with disabilities surged from 300,000 to approximately three million as a result of the war, illustrating the role of conflict—particularly the use of explosive weapons—in causing temporary or permanent impairments. In these and other conflict situations, many of those affected lacked access to medical and rehabilitation services, and many more civilians risked future impairment from explosive remnants of war (ERWs).
According to the concept note for tomorrow’s meeting, the discussion will aim to assess the implementation of resolution 2475 five years after its adoption and identify opportunities for further action. The meeting’s objectives include enhancing the visibility of persons with disabilities in PoC frameworks; deepening understanding of the impact of armed conflict on persons with disabilities; recognising the importance of addressing the specific requirements and needs of children with disabilities in conflict situations; mainstreaming disability inclusion in the implementation of relevant Security Council mandates; and highlighting the importance of engaging with organisations representing persons with disabilities to inform international responses. By focusing attention on these issues, the meeting seeks to promote more inclusive and effective humanitarian and conflict response efforts to ensure that the rights and needs of persons with disabilities are comprehensively recognised and addressed.
At tomorrow’s meeting, many Council members are likely to stress the need for the full implementation of resolution 2475, including its provisions on improved data collection on the impact of armed conflict on persons with disabilities, enhanced training for peacekeepers and peacebuilders on disability rights, and the empowerment of persons with disabilities as active contributors to conflict prevention and resolution. These members may also call for greater integration of disability considerations into broader PoC frameworks and underscore the importance of meaningful participation by persons with disabilities in humanitarian and conflict-related decision-making processes. In this regard, they may emphasise the importance of following up on the Security Council’s expressed intention to invite persons with disabilities to brief the Council on relevant thematic and country-specific areas. More broadly, these members may advocate for the ratification and implementation of the CRPD as a key step in international efforts to advance protection for persons with disabilities.
Other members—such as China and Russia, reflecting reservations they expressed during the negotiations on resolution 2475—may reiterate support for the resolution but might caution against going beyond the Council’s mandate on some aspects of this issue. They may argue for a focus on addressing the root causes of armed conflict to reduce conflict-related disabilities, rather than expanding Council mandates to include what they view as a more specialised area of focus. They may also voice concern about the perceived fragmentation of the PoC agenda into subgroups, while cautioning against using the Council as a forum to discuss CRPD-related issues that they consider the prerogative of other bodies such as the UN Human Rights Council and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
