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Ana Peláez Narváez

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Ana Peláez Narváez
Image
Peláez speaking at the United Nations in 2023
Born (1966-10-04) 4 October 1966 (age 60)
Zafra, Extremadura, Spain
EducationUniversity of Seville
University of Salamanca
OccupationDisability rights activist
Years active2000–present
EmployerUnited Nations
HonoursOrder of Isabella the Catholic

Ana Peláez Narváez (born 4 October 1966) is a Spanish human rights activist and disability expert. She was the first woman with a disability to sit on the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and was previously a member of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Early life and education

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Peláez was born in 1966 in Zafra, a town in Extremadura, Spain. She was blind from birth. After attending a specialist ONCE school in Seville, Peláez later transferred to a mainstream secondary school, and also studied for a time at the Lycée Saint Ubert in Brussels, Belgium.[1][2]

Paláez started her undergraduate studies at the University of Seville, graduating with a degree in education and psychology. She completed her postgraduate and doctoral studies on the needs of people with disabilities at the University of Salamanca.[1][2]

Activism

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In Spain

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Peláez has been a long-term member of the Spanish National Organisation of the Blind (ONCE). Between 2000 and 2007, she was a member of ONCE's General Council. In 2003, Peláez became its executive president in Latin America. After 2007, she served as ONCE's director of international relations, representing the organisation at multiple bodies, including the European Blind Union, the Latin American Union of the Blind, the World Blind Union, and the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment.[3]

Between 2004 and 2014, Peláez was the president of the women's commission of the Comité Español de Representantes de Personas con Discapacidad (CERMI; lit. 'Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities') before going on to become its commissioner on gender issues. She has represented CERMI before the Congress of Deputies, the Senate of Spain, and the European Parliament. Peláez sits on the Royal Board of Disability Issues, which advises the Spanish government on its disability policies, and well as on the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Social Affairs' councils on women in politics and violence against women.[1]

In Europe

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Peláez is a member of the European Disability Forum's executive committee and management board, where she also chairs the women's board and leads on gender issues. She has been a member of the EDF since 2001; in 2017, she became its vice president.[4] Since 2010, Peláez has represented the EDF at the European Women's Lobby, and was later elected to the EWL's management board by its assembly.[2]

For the United Nations

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Peláez participated in the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a delegate of the Spanish government. She subsequently observed Spain signing the convention at a ceremony on 30 March 2007; as well as the official deposit of the ratification on 3 December 2007.[5]

On 3 November 2008, Peláez was elected as one of twelve experts to serve on the United Nations' Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, becoming its first vice president. She was re-elected to the committee in 2013, serving until 2016.[6]

In June 2018, Peláez was elected to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, becoming its first member with a disability.[6][7][8] She was re-elected for a further term in 2022, and acted as the committee's chair between 2023 and 2024.[8][9]

Recognition

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For her work on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Peláez was awarded the Order of Isabella the Catholic by Juan Carlos I.[10]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 "Ana Peláez Narváez". ONCE (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. 1 2 3 "Ana Peláez Comisionada de Género del CERMI y presidenta del Comité de Mujeres del EDF comparece ante el Parlamento Europeo para hablar sobre la violencia contra las mujeres con discapacidad" [Ana Peláez, CERMI's gender commissioner and president of the EDF Women's Committee, appears before the European Parliament to speak about violence against women with disabilities]. Comité Español de Representantes de Personas con Discapacidad (in Spanish). 27 March 2012. Archived from the original on 21 February 2025. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  3. ↑ Rodríguez Salcedo, Rafael (28 October 2025). "Ana Peláez: primera mujer ciega en presidir el CEDAW de las Naciones Unidas" [Ana Peláez: first blind woman to chair the United Nations CEDAW]. Yo También (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 9 November 2025. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  4. ↑ "La Vicepresidenta de FOAL, Ana Peláez, nuevo miembro del comité contra la discriminación de la mujer de la ONU" [FOAL Vice President Ana Peláez is new member of the UN committee against discrimination against women]. Fundación ONCE América Latina (in Spanish). 11 June 2018. Archived from the original on 22 February 2025. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  5. ↑ Sánchez, Luis Javier (10 June 2018). "Ana Peláez, primera mujer con discapacidad elegida para el Comité de la CEDAW de la ONU" [Ana Peláez, the first woman with a disability elected to the UN CEDAW committee]. Confilegal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  6. 1 2 "La española Ana Peláez, reelegida como parte del Comité de Derechos de las personas con discapacidad de Naciones Unidas" [Ana Peláez, from Spain, has been re-elected to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities]. Down España (in Spanish). 14 September 2012. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  7. ↑ "Deutscher Behindertenrat unterstützt erste Kandidatur einer Frau mit Behinderung für UN-Frauenausschuss" [German Disability Council supports first candidacy of a woman with a disability for UN Committee on the Status of Women]. German Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted (in German). 3 May 2018. Archived from the original on 17 April 2026. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Ana Peláez, primera española presidenta del Comité CEDAW contra la discriminación de la mujer" [Ana Peláez, the first Spanish woman to chair the committee against discrimination against women]. Efeminista (in Spanish). 7 February 2023. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Ана Пелаэс Нарваэс: Кандидат от Испании для переизбрания в члены Комитета Организации Объединенных Наций по ликвидации дискриминации в отношении женщин [Ana Peláez Narváez: Spanish candidate for re-election to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women] (PDF) (in Russian). Madrid: Spain in the United Nations. 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "Ana Peláez". European Disability Forum. Archived from the original on 4 January 2025. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
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