Ana Peláez Narváez

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 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.

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.

Between 2004 and 2014, Peláez was the president of the women's commission of the Comité Español de Representantes de Personas con Discapacidad (CERMI; ) 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. 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.

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.

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. She was re-elected for a further term in 2022, and acted as the committee's chair between 2023 and 2024.

Recognition 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.