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Leadership Message

Dear friend,

2023 was a transformational year for Women Enabled International. This report highlights pivotal moments in our work and provides a preview of what’s next for us as the only global organization dedicated to advancing rights at the intersection of gender and disability.

In her first full year as Executive Director, Maryangel brought to bear her lived experience, business acumen, and movement roots as founder of a national disabled feminist rights group in Mexico, to lead WEI through a dynamic and participatory strategic planning process that has put us on a path to continued success and sustainability.

WEI’s new 5-year Strategic Plan, which will guide our work 2024-2028, articulates our unique role as a connector of intersecting global movements, a thought leader on key issues, an influencer of narratives and decision-makers, and an amplifier of advocacy efforts driven by disabled feminist leaders in every country and community.

While planning and structuring for a sustainable future, the WEI team had incredible impact in real time. We deepened partnerships, bolstered movements, increased representation in key advocacy spaces, and created innovative, research-based approaches to improving access to essential rights-based programs and services. We also strengthened WEI from the inside, expanding policies and practices that promote solidarity, joy, care, and rest.

As a valued member of the WEI community —along with our committed staff, board, partners, and funders— you contributed to this powerful progress. We hope you share our pride in these accomplishments and join us in solidarity with disabled feminists and allies worldwide until equality and justice are enjoyed by all.

We recognize the pressing challenges gender and disability rights are facing today, and now more than ever, we are convinced that the future of disability rights is feminist, and the future of gender equality is inclusive.

With gratitude,
Maryangel and Catherine

Read about our extensive programmatic impact in our 2023 Annual Report.

MENSAJE DE LA DIRECCIÓN EJECUTIVA Y LA JUNTA DIRECTIVA

Estimade amigue,

2023 fue un año transformador para Women Enabled International (WEI). Este informe destaca los momentos fundamentales de nuestro trabajo, y proporciona un adelanto de lo que sigue para nosotras, siendo la única organización dedicada a avanzar los derechos en la intersección de género y discapacidad.

En su primer año entero como Directora Ejecutiva, Maryangel echó mano de su experiencia de vida, su visión empresarial y su liderazgo activo en movimientos sociales –en México fundó un grupo que trabaja por los derechos de las mujeres con discapacidad–, para guiar a WEI a través de un proceso de planificación estratégica dinámico y participativo, que nos ha puesto en el camino hacia el éxito y la sustentabilidad.

El nuevo plan estratégico de cinco años de WEI guiará nuestro trabajo de 2024 a 2028. En él se detalla nuestro rol único conectando movimientos globales y amplificando los esfuerzos de incidencia impulsados por líderes feministas con discapacidad en el mundo. El plan estratégico también delinea nuestro posicionamiento como líder de opinión en temas clave, y como una organización que marca la agenda en cuanto a narrativas e influye en las personas que toman decisiones.

Durante este tiempo de planeación para un futuro sustentable, el equipo de WEI tuvo un impacto increíble en tiempo real. Profundizamos nuestras alianzas, fortalecimos movimientos, aumentamos la representación en espacios de incidencia clave, y creamos abordajes innovadores basados en la investigación para mejorar el acceso a los programas y servicios esenciales. Además, trabajamos para fortalecer a WEI internamente por medio de la expansión de políticas y prácticas que promueven la solidaridad, la alegría, los cuidados y el descanso.

Como un miembro importante de nuestra comunidad –junto con nuestro equipo, junta directiva, alianzas y fondeadores– has contribuido a este progreso contundente. Esperamos que compartas nuestro orgullo en dichos logros, y te unas a nosotras en solidaridad con las feministas con discapacidad y aliades alrededor del mundo, hasta que todes podamos disfrutar de la igualdad y de la justicia.

Reconocemos los retos apremiantes enfrentados por los derechos de género y de la discapacidad hoy en día, y más que nunca estamos convencidas que el futuro de los derechos de la discapacidad es feminista, y el futuro de la igualdad de género es incluyente.

Con agradecimiento,
Maryangel y Catherine

Lea acerca de nuestro extenso impacto programático en nuestro Informe Anual 2023.

The AWID International Forum is a global community event and a space of radical personal transformation. A one-of-a-kind convening, the Forum brings together feminist, women’s rights, gender justice, LBTQI+ and allied movements, in all our diversity and humanity, to connect, heal and thrive.

Women Enabled International will be an active participant at AWID, engaging through different events and experiences, under the theme: Rising Together – The Future of Gender Equality is Inclusive.

See below for where you can find us and come and say hi!
Please note that this page will be updated as more information is confirmed.

Aquelarre FemiDisca
Feminist Disabled Revelry
Dec. 2, 2024 | 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. | MR202, 2° Floor | RSVP encouraged

Súmate a Women Enabled International en este Aquelarre FemiDisca, en dónde vamos celebrar nuestra comunidad, nuestra alegría, y lo que significa para nosotres estar juntes. Queremos celebrar nuestros cuerpos y ocupar espacio como mujeres y personas de género diverso con discapacidad y aliades. Hagamos espacio para la solidaridad entre movimientos a través del baile y la música. ¡Ven a mover el bote con nosotres!

Join Women Enabled International in this party for Feminist Disabled Revelry! We want to celebrate our community, our joy, what it means for us to be together. We want to celebrate our bodies and take up space as women and gender-diverse people with disabilities and allies. Let’s create space for cross-movement solidarity through dance and music!

¡Aliades sin discapacidad son bienvenides a unirse a la fiesta y al movimiento! | Non-disabled allies welcome and encouraged- join the party and the movement!

Resourcing the gender and disability justice movement in the Middle East and Eastern Europe
Dec. 3, 2024 | 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. | Room 106

Disability-Inclusive Feminist Funding. This joint UAF-WEI event is aimed at increasing funding for OPDs, particularly grassroots OPDs in the Global South.
Fondos feministas incluyentes de la discapacidad. Este evento conjunto de UAF y WEI tiene como objetivo aumentar los fondos para las OPDs, específicamente aquellas OPDs con trabajo de base en el sur global.

Feminist digital realities: humanizing alternatives that equate life and disability
Realidades digitales feministas: alternativas humanizantes que equiparan la vida y la discapacidad
Dec. 3, 2024 | 2:30-3:15 p.m. | Plenary room, Hall 4
Host: IGEC in collaboration with WEI

Disability Justice Space: The Future of Gender Equality is Inclusive
Espacio de Justicia de la Discapacidad: El futuro de la igualdad de género es inclusivo
Dec. 4, 2024 | 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Disability Justice Space

An actual physical space, this is an experience designed to be a space for the disability community to gather and network.  
Un espacio físico y una experiencia diseñada para que nuestra comunidad se encuentre y construya redes.

As a member of the Accessibility Committee, WEI is co-leading the organization of this space with AWID. | Como miembro del Comité de Accesibilidad, WEI está co-lidereando la organización de este espacio junto con AWID.

Closing Plenary Session: Rising Together for the Futures of Accessibility, Justice, Intersectionality.
Dec. 5, 2024 | 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. | Hall 4, G Floor, Plenary room

The final day, *Rising Together*, reaches the peak of inspiration and solidarity. The Forum will be closed with a strong plenary celebrating the collective journey of the participants over the last three days. WEI’s Executive Director, Maryangel García-Ramos Guadiana, will participate in the session “Futures of Accessibility, Justice, Intersectionality”, speaking on the importance of ensuring accessibility, disability justice and rights, as well as a way forward to achieve this.
Durante el último día, nuestro tema de *Elevarnos juntes*, alcanza la cumbre de la inspiración y la solidaridad. Cerramos el foro con sesiones plenarias que celebran nuestro camino en estos días juntes. Maryangel García-Ramos Guadiana, Directora Ejecutiva de WEI, participará como ponente en la sesión de “Futuros de la accesibilidad, la justicia y la interseccionalidad”, donde hablará sobre la importancia de garantizar accesibilidad, la justicia de la discapacidad y los derechos de la discapacidad, y cómo podemos trabajar para alcanzarlas.

Calling all members of the disability community! Your experiences matter, especially when it comes to accessing abortion services. The Disability and Abortion Access Survey is here to gather your insights on what’s working and how services can be improved.

The Disability and Abortion Access Survey asks people with disabilities about their experiences getting abortion services. The questions will ask for your stories of receiving abortion services and the ways services could be better. There are currently no comprehensive studies in the United States about how disabled people access abortions and the problems they face. The data and quotes from this survey will help Women Enabled International (WEI) and the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) develop tools and resources for people who provide abortion services. These resources can improve abortion accessibility to better serve the disability community.

Please read the full Consent to Participate Form here before agreeing to complete the survey.

Women Enabled International (WEI) and Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) welcome you to share your story through the survey.

Together, let’s advocate for better abortion care for disabled Americans. Click the link to participate:

bit.ly/DisabilityAbortionAccessSurvey

Women Enabled International is excited to announce an extraordinary one-time donation from MacKenzie Scott, a philanthropist dedicated to advancing gender equality globally. This grant is a testament to our organization’s longstanding and steadfast dedication to advancing human rights and justice at the intersection of gender and disability, from a global perspective.

This donation recognizes the power and importance of disability inclusion to advance gender equality. While gender equality funding accounts for less than 2% of all charitable giving in the United States, disability rights funding is even scarcer, at just one penny for every 10 dollars of U.S. foundation giving.

MacKenzie Scott’s generous support underscores the urgent need for increased funding in this critical area to address the inequality experienced by women with disabilities around the world, who represent one in five women globally.

“Funding at this intersection is not niche given that women with disabilities are leading some of the most impactful work on gender equality,” WEI Board President Catherine Hyde Townsend says. “This donation from MacKenzie Scott sets an important precedent, acknowledging that intersectional funding strategies are vital to advancing gender equality worldwide”.

This investment also comes at a pivotal moment for WEI, as we are poised to launch our new strategic plan. “This funding honors the fight for gender and disability rights and justice and enables us to deepen our impact, broaden our reach, and strengthen our global and local partnerships with the worldwide gender and disability movement,” says WEI Executive Director Maryangel Garcia Ramos. “It also validates our new bold strategic vision where we firmly believe the future of gender equality is inclusive and the future of disability rights is feminist.”

Women Enabled International recibe una donación sin precedentes de $5 millones de dólares de MacKenzie Scott

Women Enabled International se complace en anunciar una extraordinaria donación única de MacKenzie Scott, una filántropa dedicada a promover la igualdad de género a nivel mundial. Esta inversión es un testimonio de la dedicación firme y duradera de nuestra organización para promover los derechos humanos y la justicia en la intersección del género y la discapacidad, desde una perspectiva global.

Esta donación reconoce el poder y la importancia de la inclusión de la discapacidad para avanzar en la igualdad de género. Mientras que la financiación para la igualdad de género representa menos del 2% de todas las donaciones en los Estados Unidos, la financiación en tema de derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad es aún más escasa, con solo un centavo por cada 10 dólares de las fundaciones estadounidenses.

El generoso apoyo de MacKenzie Scott subraya la urgente necesidad de aumentar los fondos en esta área crítica para abordar la desigualdad que viven las mujeres con discapacidad en el mundo, las cuales representan una de cada cinco mujeres a nivel global.

“La financiación en esta intersección no es de nicho dado que las mujeres con discapacidad están encabezando algunos de los esfuerzos más impactantes alrededor del trabajo por la igualdad de género”, dice la Presidenta de la junta Directiva de WEI, Catherine Hyde Townsend. “Esta donación de MacKenzie Scott sienta un precedente importante, reconociendo que las estrategias de financiación interseccional son vitales para promover la igualdad de género en todo el mundo”.

Esta inversión también llega en un momento crucial para WEI, ya que estamos preparadas para lanzar nuestro nuevo plan estratégico. “Este financiamiento honra la lucha por los derechos y la justicia de género y discapacidad y nos permite profundizar nuestro impacto, ampliar nuestro alcance y fortalecer nuestras alianzas globales y locales con el movimiento alrededor del mundo en género y discapacidad”, dice la Directora Ejecutiva de WEI, Maryangel García-Ramos. “También valida nuestra nueva audaz visión estratégica donde creemos firmemente el futuro de la igualdad de género es inclusivo y el futuro de los derechos de las personas con discapacidad es feminista“.

Women Enabled International (WEI), the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), Legal Voice, and Covington & Burling LLP filed an amicus brief on behalf of thirteen disability rights organizations and scholars in the United States Supreme Court, advocating for the Court to uphold the federal protections of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) and allow doctors to provide necessary abortions in the case of medical emergencies, which Idaho’s abortion ban currently criminalizes. The brief highlights that people with disabilities will suffer disproportionate harm if Idaho is permitted to criminalize health-preserving and life-saving abortion care.

About the case

Idaho legislators passed an abortion ban in 2020, prior to the end of the federal right to an abortion under Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health. After Dobbs, Idaho’s law took effect and the most current version of the law (amended in 2023) criminalizes nearly all forms of abortion, except those that are “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman,” termination of an ectopic pregnancy, or abortions that resulted from rape or incest in extremely limited circumstances.

This Idaho law directly conflicts with the well-established federal law, EMTALA, which requires hospitals to treat patients experiencing an emergency medical condition with stabilizing care. EMTALA applies not only when a patient has a life-threatening condition but also when a patient has a condition that places their health “in serious jeopardy” that threatens “serious impairment to bodily functions” or “serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.” Pregnant disabled people can experience a range of conditions that threaten their lives or health; in such circumstances, EMTALA may require hospitals to provide abortion care as necessary stabilizing treatment.

The conflict between Idaho’s abortion ban and EMTALA’s requirement for stabilizing medical care put healthcare providers in an impossible position. If they provide health stabilizing care, they could face criminal prosecution under Idaho’s ban, but if they withhold care, they leave patients in crisis and violate EMTALA. Because of this conflict, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit in a federal district court challenging the Idaho abortion ban to the extent that it conflicts with federal law.

On January 5, 2024, the United States Supreme Court announced that it would hear the case. The Supreme Court will determine whether the federal law of EMTALA preempts the Idaho abortion ban, in which case the federal law would take precedence over the narrow exceptions of Idaho’s abortion ban. If the Supreme Court does not hold that EMTALA protects health-preserving abortion care in medical emergencies, emergency medical care will be denied to those who most need it and are least likely to be able to access it.

About the amicus curiae brief

An amicus curiae (“friend of the court,” in Latin) is a person or organization with a strong interest in the issues brought up in a case to which they are not a party. The amicus curiae may submit a written brief stating its interpretation of the law or arguments relating to the facts under consideration by the Court.

WEI, DREDF, Legal Voice, and Covington & Burling LLP have filed an amicus brief with thirteen other disability rights organizations and scholars including:

The American Association of People with Disabilities
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center
Disability Rights Advocates
Disability Rights California
Disability Rights Washington
Katherine Pérez, Director of the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation, and Visiting Professor of Law at Loyola Law School*
The National Council on Independent Living
National Health Law Program
Professor Robyn M. Powell, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law*
Ruth Colker, Distinguished University Professor and Heck Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law at Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University
Tony Coelho, former U.S. Congressman, Founder of the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation

* Participating in their individual capacity, not as representatives of their institutions. Institutions are listed for affiliation purposes only.

The amicus brief highlights the barriers to accessing medical care and the increased likelihood of medical complications for people with disabilities, both of which make it more likely that disabled people will need the emergency abortion care that EMTALA protects, but that is criminalized under Idaho’s abortion ban. It argues that upholding the Idaho ban’s narrow exceptions for only life-saving care will prevent Congress’s core purpose in enacting EMTALA: to ensure that hospitals provide emergency medical care to those who most need it and are least likely to be able to access it.

WEI, DREDF, and Allen & Overy’s amicus brief argues the following key points:

Congress enacted EMTALA to ensure that at-risk people—including people with disabilities—receive stabilizing medical treatment in emergency situations. It is clear from the legislative history of EMTALA and other health care legislation that Congress intends for disabled people to have full access to all health care services without discrimination.
Disabled people are particularly likely to need the stabilizing abortion care guaranteed under EMTALA. People with disabilities are more likely to have serious pregnancy-related health complications and less likely to have access to regular prenatal and primary care. This makes it more likely that disabled people will need health-preserving, stabilizing care in hospital emergency rooms.
Without EMTALA’s protections, state abortion bans will undermine the medical system in important ways, causing additional harm to people with disabilities. Idaho’s ban has driven qualified health care providers from the state with the fear of prosecution, leading to a significant gap in obstetric care. Disabled people without financial resources face logistical barriers—including transportation barriers—to access essential medical care.

The amicus brief can be viewed here.

New amicus curiae brief before the United States Supreme Court

Women Enabled International (WEI), the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), and Allen & Overy LLP filed an amicus brief on behalf of twelve disability rights organizations and scholars in the United States Supreme Court, advocating for a return to the use of updated regulations for mifepristone, a drug used to carry out medication abortion, that improved access to safe abortion. The brief highlights the disproportionate impact that medically unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion have on people with disabilities.

About the case

Medication abortion is the most commonly used method of abortion in the United States, accounting for more than half of all abortions.  Mifepristone is part of a two-drug regimen for medication abortion and was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000. Since its approval, the drug has established a well-documented safety record, as demonstrated by hundreds of high-quality studies and its real-world use by more than five million people.

This lawsuit—filed by anti-abortion advocates against the FDA and the manufacturer of mifepristone, Danco Laboratories, in November 2022—challenges the FDA’s initial approval of mifepristone as well as its more recent actions to increase access to the drug. The Fifth Circuit, a U.S. Court of Appeals, did not block the FDA’s 2000 initial authorization of mifepristone in its ruling, it reinstated burdensome restrictions on the drug from before 2016. These restrictions included: ending the ability of certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe mifepristone; reinstating in-person dispensing requirements for prescriptions; and stopping a new pharmacy certification process, which enabled retail pharmacies to dispense mifepristone directly to patients.

In December 2023, the United States Supreme Court announced that they would hear the case on appeal from the Fifth Circuit’s decision. The Supreme Court will be determining if the FDA’s 2016 and 2021 changes to mifepristone regulation should be reinstated.

If the Supreme Court does not reverse the Fifth Circuit’s decision, access to the most common medication abortion regimen used in the U.S. would be limited across the country—even in those states where abortion rights are protected.

About the amicus curiae brief

WEI, DREDF, and Allen & Overy LLP have filed an amicus brief with twelve other disability rights organizations and scholars including:

The American Association of People with Disabilities
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center
Disability Rights Advocates
Disability Rights New York
The National Council on Independent Living
Katherine Pérez, Director of the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation, and Visiting Professor of Law at Loyola Law School*
Professor Ruth Colker, Distinguished University Professor and the Heck Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law at the Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University*
Professor Robyn M. Powell, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law*
Tony Coelho, former U.S. Congressman

* Participating in their individual capacity, not as representatives of their institutions. Institutions are listed for affiliation purposes only.

The amicus brief outlines how reinstating outdated restrictions on medication abortion disproportionately burdens pregnant people with disabilities, who face more barriers to accessing care. The amicus brief urges the United States Supreme Court to reverse the Fifth Circuit’s decision which rolled back the clock on medication abortion access.

WEI, DREDF, and Allen & Overy’s amicus brief argues the following key points:

Restricted access to mifepristone creates a healthcare crisis that disproportionately harms people with disabilities. People with disabilities are more at risk for severe maternal morbidities and maternal mortality during their pregnancies than non-disabled people and pregnancy can worsen disability-related health outcomes.
Unnecessary restrictions to mifepristone exacerbate the harms that people with disabilities already encounter in terms of physical barriers to accessing abortion care (such as inaccessible medical clinics and non-existent adaptive equipment). Telehealth abortion appointments and mailed prescriptions give people with disabilities the option to access care without the delays of navigating inaccessible facilities.
Without expanded options for medication abortion care, people with disabilities will continue to experience transportation and logistical barriers to reproductive health care that raise privacy, abuse, and coercion concerns. Inaccessible travel options and logistical barriers like transportation reliance on third parties place people with disabilities at risk for reproductive coercion and compromise their medical privacy.
Regulation of mifepristone that is not supported by medical research further harms people with disabilities who already face disproportionate financial barriers and medical system discrimination.

The amicus brief can be viewed here.

By Cristina Dueñas Díaz-Tendero

**Esta publicación está disponible en español aquí**

In the feminist movement and at many defining moments for gender equality, the lack of representation, participation, and leadership for one particular community has been clear — namely, feminists with disabilities.

In my activism, I have felt many times that we, women with disabilities, have been ignored or marginalized from the feminist movement. I remember joining the feminist movement in my region a few years ago, and the specific needs of feminists with disabilities were not addressed; nobody cared about my accessibility requirements (whether at in-person meetings, activities, or protests) or my agenda as a feminist with a disability. The intersection of gender and disability or the importance of accessibility was not even mentioned. Ultimately, I felt disappointed and left the network because it hurt me to see that my allies in the feminist movement failed to embrace inclusion and diversity.

As a feminist with a disability, I see this as a clear example of discrimination, as we are denied access to information, discussions, events, and decision-making processes concerning major issues on gender equality. Issues that impact our daily lives, such as education, health, employment, and gender-based violence, among others. Our voices are not listened to either, even though gender equality will never be achieved if we are excluded from and ignored in the progress towards gender equality.

Read the Full Article on Medium

Leadership Message

We are excited to share Women Enabled International’s 2022 Annual Report. This was a year of momentous celebration, marking our 10th anniversary and bright beginnings to help forge WEI’s future.

WEI is the only global organization focused exclusively on the human rights of women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities. In the face of rising gender-based violence and anti-rights movements worldwide, we remain steadfast in our commitment to increasing the visibility of our multiply marginalized community and seeing our rights recognized and realized.

Throughout the year and at a special event in October 2022, we looked back at WEI’s impact in our first decade and paid tribute to the people who have worked to advance our mission and our movement – especially our staff and women with disabilities around the world. Click here to access a brief anniversary video featuring esteemed global advocates, allies, and champions of human rights at the intersection of gender and disability.

Every year, as WEI grows, so does our reach and impact. In 2022, WEI widened our networks, deepened our partnerships, and substantially increased our staff and budget through diversified funding sources. To sustain this growth and strengthen organizational resilience, WEI secured a coveted BUILD grant from the Ford Foundation to further invest in the people, finances, systems, and strategies needed to thrive into the future.

Thus, WEI ended 2022 perfectly positioned to develop our next 5-year strategic plan. WEI has established an incredibly strong foundation, with touchstone values that will guide our work going forward – intersectional feminism, disability justice, community, accountability, respect, and dignity.

We feel energized – and privileged – by the opportunity to shape what’s next for this unique and vital organization, understanding the great responsibility we bear as we pursue equality and justice for women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities worldwide.

In gratitude and solidarity,

Maryangel García-Ramos Executive Director

Catherine Townsend President, Board of Directors

Read about our extensive programmatic impact in our 2022 Annual Report.

MENSAJE DE LA DIRECCIÓN EJECUTIVA Y LA JUNTA DIRECTIVA

Nos complace compartir el Informe Anual 2022 de Women Enabled International. Esteaño estuvo marcado por celebraciones trascendentales, como nuestro décimoaniversario y el inicio de una etapa brillante, en la que dimos la bienvenida a una nuevaDirectora Ejecutiva para ayudar a forjar el futuro de WEI.

WEI es la única organización internacional que trabaja de forma exclusiva en losderechos humanos de las mujeres, las niñas y las personas de género diverso condiscapacidad. Frente al aumento de la violencia de género y los movimientosantiderechos alrededor del mundo, nos mantenemos firmes en nuestro compromiso poraumentar la visibilidad de nuestra comunidad y garantizar el reconocimiento, laprotección y el ejercicio de nuestros derechos.

A lo largo del año y en un evento especial en octubre de 2022, reflexionamos acercadel impacto de WEI en nuestra primera década y rendimos tributo a todas aquellaspersonas que han trabajado con incansable dedicación en pos del progreso de nuestramisión y nuestro movimiento, sobre todo nuestro personal y las mujeres condiscapacidad de todo el mundo. Haga clic aquí para ver un breve vídeo de nuestroaniversario, en el que figuran grandes activistas por los derechos humanos en laintersección del género y la discapacidad y otras personas aliadas.

Con cada año que pasa, WEI ha crecido. conn ello también nuestro alcance e impacto. En 2022, WEI amplió sus redes, fortaleció sus alianzas e incrementó de maneraconsiderable su personal y presupuesto a través de fuentes de financiacióndiversificadas. Con el fin de mantener este crecimiento y consolidar una resilienciaorganizacional, WEI obtuvo la codiciada subvención BUILD de la Ford Foundation parainvertir más en la gente, las finanzas, los sistemas y las estrategias que se necesitanpara prosperar en el futuro.

WEI terminó el 2022 muy bien posicionada para su elaborar siguiente plan estratégicode 5 años. La organización sentó cimientos sólidos sobre los que continuar su labor, ydefinió los valores fundamentales que guiarán su trabajo de ahora en adelante, entreellos feminismo interseccional, justicia para la discapacidad, comunidad, rendición decuentas, respeto, y dignidad.

Nos sentimos honradas y revitalizadas por el privilegio que significa la oportunidad deconstruir el futuro de esta organización única y vital, y comprendemos la granresponsabilidad que tenemos en la búsqueda de la equidad y la justicia para lasmujeres, las niñas y las personas de género diverso con discapacidad alrededor delmundo.

En gratitud y solidaridad,

Maryangel García-Ramos Directora Ejecutiva

Catherine Townsend Presidenta de la Junta Directiva

Lea acerca de nuestro extenso impacto programático en nuestro Informe Anual 2022.

Transforming Feminist Spaces for Accessibility: From Commitment to Reality

Join us on September 19th, 2 pm ET, for an exciting event that bridges the gap between commitment and practice in creating accessible feminist spaces. The event is co-hosted by the Inclusive Generation Equality Collective and Women Enabled International, and brings on board actors from across the disability rights and feminist movements. We’ll explore the Feminist Accessibility Protocol and how Women Deliver turned their commitments to disability inclusion into reality, offering lessons for other feminists. The event will feature diverse voices from the feminist and disability rights sectors. 💜🌟

Registration: bit.ly/GEFMidpointEvent

Transformando Espacios Feministas para la Accesibilidad y la Inclusión: del Compromiso a la Realidad.

Únete a nosotras el 19 de septiembre a las 2pm ET, a un evento emocionante que cierra la brecha entre el compromiso y la práctica en la creación de espacios feministas accesibles. El evento está organizado conjuntamente por el Colectivo Inclusivo Generación Igualdad Inclusiva y Women Enabled International, y reúne a actores de todos los movimientos feministas y por los derechos de las personas con discapacidad. Exploraremos el Protocolo de Accesibilidad Feminista Women Deliver convirtió en realidad sus compromisos con la inclusión de la discapacidad, ofreciendo lecciones para otras feministas. El evento contará con diversas voces de los sectores feminista y de derechos de las personas con discapacidad. 💜🌟

Registro en: bit.ly/GEFMidpointEvent

Dear community,

I reach out because, after seven months leading Women Enabled International, I want to share with you my deep concerns about the challenges women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities experience in the world we live in now.

Humanitarian crises—conflict, climate change, rising authoritarianism, and public health emergencies—are proliferating around the globe. These crises disproportionately threaten the human rights of women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities.

Women Enabled International (WEI) is accelerating our advocacy to address these threats and ensure the safety, security, and dignity of people living at the intersection of gender and disability.

You can play a vital role in addressing these challenges with us.

Please donate today to safeguard the human rights of all people in crisis situations.

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Together with our partners, WEI documents the dire consequences of conflict and humanitarian emergencies for our community worldwide, for example:

Climate Change: Many indigenous women and girls with disabilities in Nepal cannot access fresh food and are compelled to walk for hours to fetch water, negatively impacting their health and menstrual hygiene.

Violent Conflict: In Ukraine, people with disabilities are being abandoned instead of evacuated from war zones because aid groups lack the capacity to facilitate accessible transport and services.

Natural Disasters: In Puerto Rico, where 22% of women are women with disabilities, the U.S. government’s delayed response to Hurricane Maria left thousands without power, which had devastating consequences for people who rely on electricity for breathing or mobility.

COVID-19: Women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities worldwide experienced increased sexual and gender-based violence and barriers to accessing related support services, police, and justice mechanisms during pandemic lockdowns. Even now with those orders lifted, the coronavirus still threatens those at greater risk for serious illness and complications.
In crisis situations, governments have an obligation to take action to protect the rights of women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities, particularly those who experience discrimination and marginalization on the basis of multiple and intersecting identities (race, ethnicity, caste, etc.)

WEI plays a critical role by amplifying the voices of the most impacted, partnering to connect local advocates and global decision-makers, and holding international agencies and states accountable for implementing inclusive and appropriate policies and protections.

Your contribution will support WEI’s development and dissemination of tools, trainings, and resources to equip those in humanitarian emergencies to assert their rights. You can support WEI and our partners’ powerful advocacy targeting laws, systems, and services towards more inclusive, accessible, and just responses.

Please join us by making a personal financial contribution – of any amount – to keep the focus on rights at risk in humanitarian crises.

Your support holds power accountable to ensure crisis preparedness, response, and recovery efforts are gender and disability inclusive.

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I am incredibly proud of the work WEI is doing – which has never felt more urgent. I hope we can count on your support.

Gracias,

Maryangel

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