A Disability-Led Feminist Future is Unstoppable!

Five women with disabilities from Nepal are smiling and wrapping their arms around each other outside.

Nepal’s disability rights movement is diversifying with women from marginalized communities shaping an inclusive agenda. Photo by Rucha Chitnis

At the Disability Rights Fund, we have a front row seat to witness transformation. Today, on International Women’s Day, we celebrate the game-changing and intersectional leadership of women with disabilities that is rooted in diversity.

Globally, the leadership of women with disabilities is shaping inclusive climate action and gender justice. In Nigeria, the Network of Women with Disabilities established a climate action network to advocate for disability-inclusive climate policies. In Indonesia, the advocacy of CIQAL led to the local government issuing a decree to create a Disaster Management Disability Service Unit in Bantul Regency to ensure disaster and humanitarian responses include persons with disabilities.

Thanks to the powerful advocacy of our feminist partners in Nepal, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) recognized the intersectional identities of women with disabilities and their rights in their concluding observations.

Meanwhile in Indonesia and Malawi, our partners are driving the conversation on inclusive care and support systems. As Scader Louis, Co-Founder of the Spinal Injuries Association of Malawi, reminds us:

“Inclusive care and support systems restore dignity and autonomy. It’s important that the care work done by women with disabilities is recognized and compensated.”

An African woman is smiling outdoors. She's using a wheelchair and is wearing a blue and white printed top and blue pants.

Scader Louis is an advocate for inclusive care and support systems in Malawi. Photo: Rucha Chitnis

Women with disabilities are also breaking barriers in mental health. Hauwa Ojeifo, Founder of She Writes Woman, and her team is de-stigmatizing psychosocial disabilities in Nigeria—and the world is taking notice! Hauwa was recently named one of TIME’s 2024 Next Generation Leaders, a testament to the power of her work and storytelling.

Now more than ever, we need bold investments in the innovative solutions of women with disabilities. As we see a wave of attacks against Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility efforts and cuts to foreign assistance by governments, we must resource intersectional feminist futures to build a world that prioritizes collective care and wellbeing for all.

Let’s join in solidarity with women with disabilities, amplifying their voices and solutions to build a future that is feminist, disability-led, and unstoppable!