As there is a huge lack of data, statistics, information about the Women with Disabilities there are very few website which provide information on the same. The few web based information however is mostly of information about the WWDs of Australia, USA, UK and other developed countries but one can hardly get the same about WWDs in Asia and more precisely of South Asia. To address the need this website was launched to provide information on WWDs of South Asia. Perhaps this is the only website which focused on the situation of WWDs of the region. The objective is to bring women with disabilities from the South Asia region to the forefront and providing them a platform for sharing views, discussing issues affecting them. The uniqueness of the site is it not only provides information, shares resources but also has a live discussion forum for WWDs and others to share their issues, ideas, news and views.
The site aims to bring Women with Disabilities of the South Asian region together with the broader vision of strengthening their voice to fight for equal rights and opportunities.
The website is an initiative under the project “Creating spaces for women with disabilities (WWD) to communicate and advocate for their rights”, supported by DFID, UK. The project is a regional initiative and being implemented by three core partners in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with technical assistance by Healthlink Worldwide, UK based and the project is supported by DFID, UK
The Partners:
• AWWD, India
Association for Women with Disabilities (AWWD), Indiais a non-profit making, voluntary organization of and by Women with Disabilities working towards empowerment and mainstreaming of disabled girls & women. The association was founded by Ms. Kuhu Das, who personally is a disabled woman, in the year 2002 in a village in South 24 Parganas a district of West Bengal of India. Started with rural disabled women the association currently works with both rural and urban disabled women. Ensuring equal rights and opportunities of the WWDs through capacity building, advocacy and networking with other like-minded organizations is the ultimate goal of the organisation. The Association believes working in rights-based approach and supports young & adult girls and women with disabilities to bring meaningful positive changes in their life. more info
• AKASA , Sri Lanka
AKASA or ‘the sky' in Sinhala, is the acronym for Aabadha Sahitha Kanthawange Sangamaya, the Sinhalese for the Association of Women with Disabilities . It is a network of self help groups of persons with disabilities or family members of persons with disabilities, with an emphasis on women with disabilities or female family members of persons with disabilities. The Executive Committee comprises solely of women with disabilities or female guardians of severely impaired persons with disabilities or children with disabilities. AKASA works in the rural areas and focuses on poorer communities. AKASA follows a rights-based, bottom-up approach to development used by other grassroots NGOs in Sri Lanka.
more info
• SARPV, Bangladesh
Social Assistance and Rehabilitation for the Physically Vulnerable (SARPV), Bangladeshis a voluntary organization devoted towards mainstreaming the physically challenged and marginalized communities in our society. SARPV considers disability as a cross-cutting development issue, not a welfare or charity one. SARPV aims to build a society in which disabled people enjoy full participation. Md. Shahidul Haque, a physically challenged person himself founded this organization in 1988. Community level work started in 1991 through a response to first ever relief operation to prevent disabilities and support trauma victims after a devastating cyclone in southern coastal areas of Bangladesh.
more info
• Healthlink Worldwide, UK
Healthlink Worldwide is a UK based NGO working towards strengthening the voice of marginalised group to communicate and speak for their rights. Since its inception in 1977 the organisation is working in partnership with the NGOs in Africa and Asia and currently working with about 50 partners around the globe. Healthlink Worldwide works in a much diversified areas to encompass various marginalised groups of which Gender & Disability is one of the focus areas considering the vulnerability of the group. HLWW coordinates a theme group of international membership on disability. The organisation also jointly managed the KAR Programme on healthcare technology and a disability for DfID with GIC limited (2000-2002), and more recently phases two of the KAR Programme (2003-2005) with the Overseas Development Group. Healthlink used to produce the international edition of Disability Dialogue, a regular bulletin for disabled people and DPOs in the South. It has decentralized this process and currently supports partners located in the South in its production. Healthlink works in three major areas, that of communication, information & knowledge management (IKM) and Networking and learning as well. Healthlink Worldwide has evolved into an organization that champions participatory approaches to improving access to knowledge and promotes inclusive development dialogue to directly improve health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable group in the community. more info
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Secondary Partners:
• Nepal Disabled Human Rights Centre (DHRC) Nepal
• Tarayana Foundation, Bhutan
• Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM) Pakistan
• National Programme for Action on Disability (NPAD) Afghanistan
• Care Society, Maldives |
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