On February 25, 2015, Mobility International USA received an innovative practice award from the Zero Project at the United Nations Headquarters in Vienna, for its signature women's leadership training, the Women's Institute on Leadership and Disability (WILD). WILD was recognized as one of 39 "Innovative Practices" for 2015 at the international summit which was attended by more than 400 experts in the field of disability rights and inclusion from over 50 countries.
The Zero Project focuses on the rights of persons with disabilities globally. The mission of the Zero Project is to work for a world without barriers, according to the principles and Articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). It provides a platform where the most innovative and effective solutions to issues that persons with disabilities face are shared. The Zero Project was initiated by the Essl Foundation in 2010, and has run in collaboration with the World Future Council since 2011 and with the European Foundation Centre since 2013.
Initiated in 1997, WILD is an outcome of the Beijing UN Women’s Conference. This highly selective, intensive three-week training based in Eugene, Oregon, creates a unique space for rights-based leadership training for women with all types of disabilities from around the world. This is a place to gain confidence and pride, to strengthen international networks of support, and to build the skills needed to be a force for change.
Utilizing the innovative WILD strategy to move from inclusion to "infiltration", WILD women are proactively becoming involved in existing maintsream development programs. International development organizations and women leaders with disabilities are building partnerships to improve the lives of women and girls with disabilities and to make disability inclusive development sustainable.
Facts & Figures
- Over 200 women with disabilities from over 80 countries have participated in the WILD training since 1997
- Within 6 months of attending the 2013 WILD program: 72% of WILD alumni received funding or in-kind support from sources they acquired through WILD, and
- 92% of international development organization staff report that they had made changes to their organization's policies, programs, and practices to be more inclusive as a result of their participation in WILD
As an innovative practice winner, the WILD program is revolutionizing the status of women with disabilities worldwide.
