A/HRC/33/25 recommendation No. 30 (2013) on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations. 18. Ms. Patten discussed examples of recent legislative improvements in various countries in regard to women’s participation. She noted that an overall examination of State parties’ reports to the Committee had shown that, while some countries had made progress, women continued to face significant discrimination in relation to their participation in public and political life, in all geographic regions. The reasons behind the underrepresentation of women were multifaceted and complex and included economic, social and cultural issues, structural and societal barriers, and deeply entrenched gender roles and gender stereotypes, as well as intersectional discrimination. The challenges to women’s participation included non-compliance with legal guarantees regarding quotas, and their lack of enforcement, persistent traditional and patriarchal attitudes, limited access to political networks, insufficient capacity-building and campaign funding for potential women candidates, and the underrepresentation of particularly disadvantaged groups such as young women, women with disabilities and women belonging to minorities. Issues of citizenship and statelessness also prevented women’s participation, in light of a large number of reservations to article 9 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Other challenges included the lack of an enabling environment and of a regulatory framework for the operation of women’s associations, as well as the harassment of women human rights defenders. 19. Catalina Devandas Aguilar, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, recalled that participation was central to persons with disabilities, and indeed was one of the central goals of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She drew attention to the fact that persons with disabilities constituted 15 per cent of the world, a number commensurate with the population of the Americas, but had as yet had limited participation in public affairs in many societies in the world. Referring to her report to the Human Rights Council which addressed the right of persons with disabilities to participate in decision-making (see A/HRC/31/62), she noted that persons with disabilities continued to face significant barriers to participation in public life, and often had their views disregarded in favour of those of their families, of doctors or other professionals, of organizations for persons with disabilities (and not organizations of persons with disabilities), or of other groups of “experts”. She also noted that the denial or restriction of legal capacity often triggered a denial of political rights to certain persons with disabilities, especially the right to vote and to be elected on an equal basis with others. She recalled that participation was key in order to promote agency and empowerment of persons with disabilities and to ensure better decisions that benefited persons with disabilities. The Special Rapporteur emphasized that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities represented a profound paradigm shift in international human rights law whereby persons with disabilities were not “objects” to be cared for, but rather “subjects” enjoying human rights on an equal basis with others, including the fundamental right to participation in public affairs. As provided in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, States must actively consult with persons with disabilities and guarantee them the right to vote and to be elected, access to public services, and the right to participate in the conduct of public affairs, including in public decision-making. 20. On the subject of remaining challenges, Ms. Devandas Aguilar mentioned paragraph 4 of the Human Rights Committee’s general comment No. 25, which allowed limitations for persons with psychosocial disabilities in terms of the exercise of their right to vote. At the national level, the challenges included accessibility (both in terms of physical accessibility and of access to information), restrictions on being elected and holding public office, and directly discriminatory provisions against persons with disabilities. She stated that in order to ensure meaningful participation of persons with disabilities, there needed to be consultation and constant engagement by the State with 8