Over a billion people around the world suffer from some form of disability, over half of whom live in areas affected by armed conflicts. Persons with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of conflicts and post-conflict situations – violence, threat to life or health, impeded access to healthcare, education, rehabilitation and, in extreme cases, life-saving humanitarian aid. At the same time, their needs are insufficiently taken into account during the post-conflict reconstruction phase, and their potential is not fully used in the peacebuilding process.

The resolution has three main goals – it emphasises the need to involve persons with disabilities in humanitarian action and in conflict prevention, reconstruction and post-conflict reconciliation; it highlights the need to expand knowledge on the needs and rights of persons with disabilities in peacekeeping missions and improving the system of data collection and reporting on persons with disabilities.

The issue of the situation of persons with disabilities is consistent with Poland’s broader priority at the forum of the Council, namely the protection of civilian population. On 3 December 2018, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Poland organised the first meeting on the situation of persons with disabilities in conflict at the forum of the UN Security Council. The same year, Poland also hosted events to mark the World Down Syndrome Day and World Autism Awareness Day, as well as an event on the sidelines of the 11^th session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).