goods or claim government support and services. A gender-specific and intersectional approach is likewise lacking. Governmentprovided relief goods do not include hygiene and menstrual kits and there is absence of provision for family planning and reproductive health services and commodities for women with disabilities. Current interventions also fail to address increasing women’s care work during COVID-19 pandemic, the increased risk of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), and the possible breakdown of GBV referral network. In general, the outbreak of COVID-19 worsens the situation of persons with disabilities and exacerbates existing inequalities as more barriers emerge that hinder the fulfillment of their human rights. The root cause remains that persons with disabilities are not part of decision-making to address the COVID-19 pandemic, in emergency response and relief operations, and that specific vulnerabilities and protection needs are not taken into consideration in the design of government interventions. The International Disability Alliance (IDA) provided a summary vii of worldwide trends on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts on the realization of human rights of persons with disabilities, as follows: 1. People with disabilities are at higher risk of contracting COVID19 due to barriers accessing preventive information and hygiene, reliance on physical contact with the environment or support persons, as well as respiratory conditions caused by certain impairments; 2. Implementing quarantines or similar restrictive programs may entail disruptions in services vital for many persons with disabilities and undermine basic rights such as food, health care, wash and sanitation, and communications, leading to abandonment, isolation and institutionalization; 3. When ill with COVID19, persons with disabilities may face additional barriers in seeking health care and also experience discrimination and negligence by health care personnel; 4. Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) particularly at national and local levels may not be prepared to take immediate action and may not be fully aware how to approach the situation. It is also worthy to reiterate here are the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) key messages on providing a gender lens on COVID-19. UNFPA emphasizes the need to recognize that “disease outbreaks affect women and men differently, and pandemics make existing inequalities for women and girls and discrimination of other marginalized groups such as persons with disabilities and those in extreme poverty, worse.”viii It is also emphasized that in measures such as quarantines, women and men’s experiences and needs will vary because of their different physical, cultural, security, and sanitary needs. This remains true for men and women with disabilities. The foregoing provides context for the instant advisory that will focus on expounding the standards to ensure protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities to adequate standard of living and social protection pursuant to Article 28 of the UNCRPD, taking into consideration Article 6 on women and girls with disabilities and Article 7 on children with disabilities. III. STANDARDS FOR COMPLYING WITH THE OBLIGATION TO RESPECT, PROTECT AND FULFILL THE HUMAN RIGHTS TO ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING AND SOCIAL PROTECTION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES AMID THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Practical standards abound 5