UN Resolution Stripped of Ideological Wording: Historic Victory for Pro-Family Forces

On December 17, 2025, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the draft resolution submitted by the Third Committee operating within this body, entitled “Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol thereto: amplified barriers in diverse contexts.”

As the title of the document under discussion indicates, it concerns a range of issues related to the implementation of the 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol to that international treaty. In the extensive text of the resolution UN member states and the United Nations system (i.e., the UN, its organs, specialized agencies, programs, and funds) are called upon to undertake a series of actions aimed at improving the situation of persons with disabilities, calling in particular for the full implementation of the provisions of the Convention and for the systematic mainstreaming of the disability perspective into public policies and actions for sustainable development. Furthermore, the referenced document encourages Member States to review legislation and ensure equal access for persons with disabilities to justice, education, the labor market, health care, and public life. As an example, one can cite the call to train justice system personnel on the rights of persons with disabilities, or to ensure the availability of accessible assistive technologies.

The resolution also draws attention to the situation of particularly vulnerable groups, including, in this context, women and children with disabilities, migrants with disabilities, and people with disabilities living in rural areas. The document calls for eliminating multiple and intersecting discrimination, combating violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, and promoting independent living and participation in the local community. An example of other recommendations is the recommendation according to which Member States should take measures to ensure that all schools are safe and free from violence, including cyberbullying and sexual harassment, and that they address all forms of violence against children with disabilities, paying particular attention to girls with disabilities and those in vulnerable situations.

Ideological references removed from the resolution’s preamble

A few days earlier, Egypt, on behalf of a group of states that are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, submitted a draft amendment, which called for deleting from point 11 of the preamble the reference to “sexual orientation and gender identity.” The referenced provision of the preamble (point 11, pp. 2–3) points to various factors of a social, environmental, political, economic, or cultural nature that affect the situation of persons with disabilities and their ability to exercise their rights, and that reinforce discrimination. The initial draft resolution included, among others, sex, age, race, skin color, socioeconomic status, and, in particular, sexual orientation as well as gender identity.

The European Union objected to the amendment. The Danish representative, speaking on behalf of the international organization, stated that the proposed amendment is “regrettable,” and that the issues concerning homosexual and transgender persons that were removed constitute a “fundamental principle of non-discrimination.” Moreover, in the UN statement about the draft resolution, it is emphasized that “the measure [the submission of an amendment] had become a flashpoint as it targeted language that many delegations viewed as integral to the principle of non-discrimination, while others regarded it as politically or culturally contentious.”

The UN statement reports that the first vote on the amendment, held on December 15 ended in a 74-74 tie, with 18 abstentions. Accordingly, a revote was ordered. This time, the amendment was adopted with 81 votes in favor, 77 against, and 15 abstentions. Those who voted for the amendment were mainly countries from Asia and Africa, as well as the United States, Argentina, and India. All European Union member countries voted against, including Poland, Hungary, Italy, and Slovakia. As a result, the references to “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” contained in the earlier draft of the resolution were removed from the wording in point 11 of the preamble. Ultimately, the draft resolution, incorporating the amendment submitted by Egypt, was adopted by the General Assembly by an overwhelming majority—176 delegates voted in favor, while only two voted against.

Ordo Iuris comment:

This recent vote in the General Assembly is a special and undoubtedly noteworthy event, as it marks the first successful attempt to remove references to “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” from a UN draft resolution. Similar attempts have been made since 2008, that is, since such ideological formulations began appearing in draft Assembly resolutions, but they had always ended in failure. Consequently, the recent vote in the UN General Assembly can be considered a major victory for broadly defined conservative or pro-family groups. On the other hand, it should be noted that representatives of European countries governed by the right or considered conservative voted against the amendment, mentioning in this context first and foremost Hungary and Italy, but also Slovakia, where the parliament passed in September of this year amendments to its national constitution, which provide, among other things, for the protection of sovereignty in matters of national identity (family, marriage, education), a ban on surrogacy, the affirmation of the biological definition of sex, and the recognition of only a woman and a man as parents.

“It may be assumed that the recent decisions by member-state delegates at the United Nations herald the expansion of cooperation among various, often very far-flung groups operating in different countries and on different continents, guided by shared goals under international law: protecting the family, the sovereignty and identity of individual states, and preventing the use of this branch of law as a tool for exerting ideological influence. In other words, the recent developments at the UN are the first example of cooperation in the General Assembly forum to end in success, which may herald further successes for conservative circles within the UN system,” comments Patryk Ignaszczak of the Center for International Law.

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