Bringing together 21 women with diverse disabilities in the capital of Bangladesh, Ms. Desai shared leadership principles and practical skills to empower women with disabilities and build a network for disability advocacy. Each participant was selected based on her commitment to pursuing higher education and leadership positions in the community.
In Bangladesh, the belief still remains that women with disabilities should stay sheltered in their homes and many young women therefore have limited access to and awareness of educational and community resources.
"The right to health for women with disabilities must be respected and taken as a priority by the community and the government!"
WILD-South Sudan participant
In South Sudan, like many parts of the developing world, women and girls with disabilities have historically been denied their right to sexual and reproductive health.
"I got so tired of people crying for me every time I ventured onto the streets of Albania in my wheelchair that I decided it would be better to just stay home. I was only twenty-five when I was in a terrible car accident that caused irreparable damage to my spinal cord. As a result, I am now a paraplegic and a wheelchair user.
“Ensuring people with disabilities have access to health care in your communities largely depends on you.” This was Christiana Yaghr’s message, communicated in sign language, to 27 women with diverse disabilities in the small northern Ghanaian town of Wa. Representing regions throughout the country, many of the participants had traveled for hours to this workshop, the first of its kind, to learn not only about HIV/AIDS prevention but also about how to ensure that women with disabilities have access to services and information.
Never underestimate the power of disabled women.
Especially when they’re WILD women fighting their way to the forefront of the social debates, strategic planning sessions, and discussions about ending violence, illiteracy, unemployment, poverty, and inaccessible health services.
In the remote mountainous Gulmi District of Nepal, Ms. Ganga Rayamajhi of Nepal, a double amputee, serves as chairwoman for Hope Disability Centre.
Following her participation in MIUSA Women’s Institute on Leadership and Disability (WILD), her organization hosted a campaign to advocate for disability rights and ending violence against women and people with disabilities in Nepal. During the campaign, Ganga participated in interviews on the radio and television to influence policy makers toward justice and social change.
