Are you attending the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) from March 6-17, 2023?

If so, come say “hi” to WEI!

Women Enabled International (WEI) will host and participate in various events, meetings, and social media campaigns during CSW67. In line with the theme of this year’s gathering, our engagement will highlight the link between technology and innovation and the disability-related accessibility of key decision-making spaces.

One of the events we’re most excited about is our own – “Feminist Accessibility Protocol – Committing to Disability-accessible and Inclusive Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality and Human Rights”

The in-person event will introduce the Feminist Accessibility Protocol and bring together voices from States, UN agencies, feminist civil society, and disabled feminists to highlight good practices utilizing technology and innovation to ensure an accessible, inclusive, valuable, and safe space for feminists with disabilities. CART closed captioning in English, American Sign Language interpretation, and English-Spanish interpretation will be provided.

When: Thursday, March 9, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm EST
Where: Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, 320 East 43rd Street.

To register for this event, visit this link: www.bit.ly/CSWProtocol
Please note: registration will close 48 hours before the event.
In addition to our event, the creators of the Feminist Accessibility Protocol, The Inclusive Generation Equality Collective, will be launching two campaigns during the event, and we’d love for you to get involved!

The first campaign, #CommitToAccess, will encourage prominent feminists to commit to ensuring the accessibility and inclusion of feminists with disabilities in feminist spaces by signing the Feminist Accessibility Protocol.

The second campaign, #AccessInPractice, aims to see the Protocol in action by highlighting good practices and identifying accessibility barriers for the participation and leadership of feminists with disabilities at CSW67. Accessibility is a gender equality issue. It’s up to all of us to ensure that all feminists can participate fully and equally.

So, whether you’re attending #CSW67 in person or not, we’d love for you to join us! Encourage your network to #CommitToAccess and share your own experiences using #AccessInPractice.

Make sure to check out these other in-person events featuring the WEI team:

Advancing Feminist Movements and Leadership: Bringing Generation Equality to the Local Level
When: Tuesday, 7th March, 4:00pm to 5:00 pm EST
Where: Riverview Room, Millennium Hilton New York, One UN Plaza, 28th Floor
Organized by: United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)

Gender Equality, Disability and the Digital World
When: Wednesday, 8th March, 12:30pm to 2:00pm EST
Where: Lower Level, Salvation Army International Justice Commission, 221 East 52nd Street,
Organized by: Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA)

Feminists say “Enough!” Countering Anti-gender Forces and Fostering Collective Resilience
When: Friday, 17th March, 6:15pm to 7:30pm
Where: Church Center of the United Nations, 777 United Nations Plaza
Organized by: CREA

Join us virtually at these events:

Women with Disabilities, Access to Technology and Equality
When: Friday, 10th March, 8:00am to 10:00am EST
Virtual: Register with this [LINK]
Organized by: Shanta Memorial Rehabilitation Centre

Women with Disabilities Crossing the Digital Divide
When: Wednesday, 15th March, 11:00am to 12:30pm EST
Virtual: Register with this [LINK]
Organized by: International Convocation of Unitarian Universalist Women

Women Enabled International (WEI) extends our solidarity to the people of Turkey and Syria in the face of the devastating earthquakes that have impacted both countries. WEI expresses particular concern for the situation of women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities in the aftermath of this natural disaster, particularly those who were already experiencing a heightened risk of human rights violations under armed conflict and displacement, as this emergency poses new threats to their rights, safety, and wellbeing.

In Syria, 28% of the population has a disability. In Turkey, there are about 5 million people with disabilities, 57 % of whom are women. Natural disasters, such as the earthquakes that affected these countries this week, can impact the rights and well-being of women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities.  In particular, existing research indicates that, during situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies, women, girls, and gender-diverse persons with disabilities experience higher risks of violence than do other women and other persons with disabilities, face increased barriers to GBV and health services, including sexual and reproductive healthcare and gender-based violence services. They also experience greater difficulty meeting their basic needs. These risks chiefly arise due to preexisting patterns of discrimination, stigma, stereotypes, and prejudices at the intersection of gender and disability, among other statuses. 

Within this context, States must promote and protect the rights of women, girls, and gender minorities with disabilities during humanitarian emergencies like this. Under article 11 of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD),  State Parties have a specific obligation to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters. Article 6 of the CRPD affirms that States must take specific steps to ensure the rights and safety of women and girls with disabilities.

With these obligations in mind, we call on governments and other stakeholders providing essential assistance in  Syria and Turkey to make sure that women and gender-diverse people with disabilities are included in response efforts. This includes: 

• Ensuring the prompt, accessible, and safe evacuation and/or relocation of women, girls, and gender-diverse persons with disabilities from regions most severely impacted by the earthquake.
• Ensuring that women, girls, and gender-diverse persons with disabilities are provided direct access to food, water, medical supplies, healthcare, accessible transportation, safe and accessible shelters, and other measures to reduce the impact of the emergency on their lives without discrimination based on their gender, disability and other statuses.
• Preventing and redressing sexual and gender-based violence against women, girls, and gender minorities with disabilities, including by evacuating them, making humanitarian assistance directly available to them, and ensuring that evacuation shelters are fully accessible and do not expose them to heightened risks of gender-based violence. 
• Providing information about humanitarian assistance and about the response to gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health during and in the aftermath of the emergency in accessible formats, such as sign language, braille, Easy Read, and plain language, and make such information available in places where women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities can access it.
• Adopting a twin-track approach to respond to the needs of women, girls, and gender minorities with disabilities in all disaster response and recovery efforts, policies, and programming. Involve women with disabilities and their representative organizations in the design, implementation, and monitoring of such efforts, policies, and programs.

Further resources on gender, disability, and humanitarian emergencies :

Women Enabled International, Rights Violations in Conflict and Humanitarian Emergencies Factsheet (2020).

Inter-Agency Standing Committee, Guidelines: Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action (2019).

A Message from Our Executive Director

Dear Disabled Women’s Rights Supporter, 

I am excited and honored to bring you the latest — and my first, as new ED — round-up of WEI news and stories and to kick off the new year together with you! 

In this edition, you’ll read about the powerful partnerships, joint advocacy activities, inclusive organizing, and essential capacity strengthening efforts that have exemplified WEI’s work these past months and that we feel so very proud of. 

We just celebrated 10 years of powerful work for gender and disability rights, and now we are embarking on a crucial moment for our organization, as we begin turning the page, looking ahead, and envisioning the next decade for us, our movement and our community.  

We have grown and evolved tremendously in the past few years, and 2023 will be a year of continued transformation. I am happy to announce we will begin a new strategic planning process aimed at building on our expertise, strengthening our resilience, and most importantly, uplifting the voices and experiences of disabled women, girls and other gender diversities with disabilities around the world so we can advance our rights and justice. We will continue to work passionately to promulgate accessible intersectional feminist values for our global communities.  

I am grateful for your support and energized by this amazing opportunity to lead WEI into the future.  

Gracias, 

Maryangel Garcia-Ramos Guadiana 

Executive Director 

Newsletter Highlights

• A Key Moment for Disability Inclusion in Feminist Spaces
• Expanding Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Information and Services
• Centering the Voices of Disabled Youth Activists
• Advocacy in Geneva Spurs Action in Indonesia

Sign up for our mailing list and be the first to know about exciting new projects and publications, upcoming events, and all things WEI! Sign up here!

***Esta página está disponible en español aquí***

What is the Feminist Accessibility Protocol?

The Protocol is a groundbreaking set of 13 accessibility-related commitments to ensure that women, girls, trans, intersex, and nonbinary persons with disabilities are meaningfully included in gender equality events and meetings.

The Protocol asks States, feminist civil society, United Nations entities, and other feminist actors to make a pledge to ensure that, moving forward, gender equality discussions and decision-making spaces are fully accessible to and inclusive of feminists with disabilities. Each of the 13 commitments in the Protocol is a call for action on a specific aspect of accessibility and inclusivity in feminist events and meetings, including event planning, execution, and follow-up.

The Protocol also includes an Annex with good practices on accessibility and the outcomes of focus groups on accessibility in gender equality spaces, conducted with 109 women and gender-diverse persons with disabilities from 37 countries to inform the Protocol.

Access the Feminist Accessibility Protocol in various formats:

The Protocol is available in various accessible formats.

To access the English version of the Protocol, click here.
To access the Easy Read version of the Protocol (in English), click here.
To access the International Sign version of the Protocol, click here.
To access the Spanish version of the Protocol, click here.

Sign on to the Feminist Accessibility Protocol

If you are a feminist organization, State, UN entity, or other actor organizing meetings or events on gender equality, we invite you to sign on to the Protocol and join our efforts to create accessible gender equality spaces.

Click here to sign on to the Protocol.

Who created the Feminist Accessibility Protocol and why?

The Protocol is an initiative of the Inclusive Generation Equality Collective (IGEC), a group of activists with disabilities and allies from around the world that advocates for the inclusion of feminists with disabilities and a disability perspective in gender equality spaces and decisions. The IGEC was formed in January 2021 to engage in the Generation Equality process and other efforts to advance gender equality.

The Protocol was created as a response to accessibility barriers in gender equality spaces that hindered the participation of feminists with disabilities, in particular, the Generation Equality Forums. The IGEC developed the Protocol to raise awareness about the importance of ensuring accessibility, gather commitments towards accessibility in gender equality spaces, and encourage action from States, feminist organizations, UN entities, and other actors to make those spaces fully accessible to, inclusive of women, girls, trans, intersex, and nonbinary persons with disabilities.

What else has the Inclusive Generation Equality Collective done?

In addition to developing the Feminist Accessibility Protocol, the IGEC actively engaged with the Generation Equality Forums, convened by UN Women and held virtually in Mexico City and Paris in 2021. Prior to the Forums, the Collective developed an Advocacy Platform, endorsed by over 280 organizations and individuals, to call for a Generation Equality process that included a disability and gender intersectional perspective.

During the Forums, the IGEC members faced various accessibility barriers that limited their participation and requested action from the organizers. Through blog posts and open letters to UN Women and the government of France after both events, they called attention to the inaccessibility of the forums and advocated for a commitment to accessibility, which inspired the development of the Protocol.

Who can join the Inclusive Generation Equality Collective?

If you are a woman, girl, trans, intersex, or nonbinary person with disabilities, or an ally in the disability rights and feminist movements, you are welcome to our Collective! Click here to send us a message to join the IGEC work.

***This page is available in English here*** 

El Colectivo Inclusivo Generación Igualdad se enorgullece en presentar el Protocolo Feminista de Accesibilidad, un conjunto de compromisos innovadores que buscan garantizar la inclusión significativa de feministas con discapacidad en los espacios de igualdad de género. Obtén más información sobre el Protocolo y fírmalo a continuación.

Las mujeres con discapacidad representamos casi una de cada cinco mujeres en todo el mundo. En este contexto, somos partes esenciales del movimiento hacia la igualdad de género. Con demasiada frecuencia, sin embargo, las mujeres, las niñas, las personas trans, intersexuales y no binarias con discapacidad somos excluidas de los espacios clave en los que se toman decisiones importantes sobre la igualdad de género y los derechos relacionados con el género. Una y otra vez, las mujeres, las niñas, las personas trans, intersexuales y no binarias con discapacidad hemos observado que estos espacios no tienen en cuenta nuestros requisitos de accesibilidad y no reconocen las perspectivas importantes que traemos a estos debates.

El año pasado, volvimos a experimentar esta exclusión en un espacio clave para la igualdad de género a nivel mundial: los Foros Generación Igualdad, en los que muchas personas feministas con discapacidad ni siquiera pudieron acceder a las discusiones esenciales, y mucho menos contribuir sustancialmente a los importantes resultados del Foro. Tras esta experiencia, el Colectivo Inclusivo Generación Igualdad, un grupo de feministas con discapacidad, personas aliadas y organizaciones que abogan por los derechos y la justicia de género y discapacidad, decidió que ya era suficiente. Ya no nos conformaríamos con espacios de igualdad de género que no fueran totalmente accesibles e incluyeran a feministas con discapacidad.

El Protocolo Feminista de Accesibilidad es un resultado directo de estas experiencias y frustraciones. El Protocolo pide a los Estados, las entidades feministas de la sociedad civil, agencias de las Naciones Unidas y otros actores feministas que se comprometan a garantizar que, en el futuro, las discusiones sobre igualdad de género y los espacios de toma de decisiones sean plenamente accesibles e inclusivos para las mujeres, las niñas, las personas trans, intersexuales y no binarias con discapacidad. Cada uno de los 13 compromisos del Protocolo es un llamado a la acción sobre un aspecto específico de la accesibilidad y la inclusión en eventos y reuniones feministas, entre ellos la planificación, la ejecución y el seguimiento de los eventos.

La accesibilidad es un derecho humano, no un complemento opcional. Al comprometerse con las medidas de accesibilidad e inclusión descritas en el Protocolo, los Estados, la sociedad civil feminista, las agencias de las Naciones Unidas y otros actores feministas nos ayudarán a avanzar hacia un mundo donde la lucha por la igualdad de género incluya plenamente a las mujeres, las niñas, las personas trans, intersexuales y no binarias en toda nuestra diversidad.

¿Contamos contigo?

Accede a un video sobre el Protocolo con interpretación al sistema de señas internacional aquí:

Obtén más información sobre el Protocolo en diversos formatos aquí.

Firma el Protocolo en el formulario a continuación.

Contamos contigo para construir, colectivamente, un movimiento feminista verdaderamente inclusivo.

Women Enabled International’s Board of Directors couldn’t be more excited to announce that Maryangel Garcia-Ramos Guadiana [LINK] has joined Women Enabled International as our next Executive Director.

“The Board is thrilled to welcome Maryangel to the WEI family. We are so excited about her knowledge, skills, and perspective—a unique combination that will ensure both stability and innovation as Maryangel leads WEI into its second decade.” – Catherine Hyde Townsend, WEI Board President

A passionate changemaker, Maryangel has dedicated her career to shifting the narrative and culture of inclusion. As WEI’s Executive Director, Maryangel brings more than 15 years of diverse and deep expertise as a human rights advocate, leader, visionary for inclusion, and all-around badass. Maryangel joins WEI after leading the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the Center for the Recognition of Human Dignity at Tecnológico de Monterrey, where she has been instrumental in developing strategies to strengthen community representation and promote equality for historically discriminated groups in one of México’s largest private universities. 

As a strategic communicator and a wheelchair user with lived experience at the intersection of gender and disability herself, Maryangel recognizes just how vital it is to lift up the voices—and diversity of lived experiences—of women, girls, and gender minorities with disabilities. This commitment led Maryangel, a native of México, to found Mexicanas con Discapacidad, a national network of women with disabilities. Additionally, she was recently named the President of the Council for Persons with Disabilities for the State of Nuevo León, México, a five-year, voluntary post where she will play a lead role in advancing the development of a State Plan for Disability Inclusion.

“Women, girls, and non-binary people with disabilities need to keep on being part of the human rights and gender equality conversations and platforms, more than ever. I am humbled and ready to continue the powerful work WEI has done over the past 10 years to advance our rights. I look forward to this new powerful moment in the world where we push a new generation of disabled feminist leadership.” – Maryangel Garcia-Ramos Guadiana, WEI Executive Director

Maryangel took the reins of Women Enabled International on October 3, 2022, following a year of interim leadership by Suzannah Phillips, WEI’s Director of Strategy. WEI’s pioneering founder, Stephanie Ortoleva, retired from the organization on September 30, 2021.

We hope you will join us at our 10th Anniversary celebration on October 20th [LINK], where Maryangel will have a chance to introduce herself and share more about her vision as she leads WEI into our second decade. 

Click the link to read Maryangel’s bio. [LINK]

Please reach out to Brittany Evans, WEI’s Communications Manager, at b.evans@womenenabled.org with media requests.

It’s Time to Celebrate!

You’re invited to WEI’s 10th Anniversary Virtual Celebration on October 20th at 11 am ET.

Please join us for a community celebration of WEI’s 10-year milestone! During the event, you will hear from leaders across our movement while we honor the legacy of our pioneering founder, Stephanie Ortoleva.

Together we’ve achieved remarkable progress over the past decade. You are an important part of our story and future. We hope you will join us in celebrating this occasion on October 20th!

Event Information:

When: October 20, 2022, at 11 am Eastern Time
Where: Join the celebration via Zoom.
Register for the virtual event here: www.bit.ly/CelebrateWEI

This is a community celebration! CART captioning and international sign-language interpretation will be available. If you require other accommodations to celebrate with us, please don’t hesitate to contact WEI’s event coordinator, Luci Prosapio, directly via email at l.prosapio@womenenabled.org.

By registering, you will receive our celebration playlist as a thanks for being our guest. All registrants will also be entered into a raffle for a disability justice book bundle. The winner must be present in Zoom to win, so register today at www.bit.ly/CelebrateWEI!

Please mark your calendar and join Women Enabled International, the Pacific Sub-Regional Office of the United Nations Population Fund, and the Pacific Disability Forum for the launch of three groundbreaking resources documenting the lived experiences of women and young people with disabilities around sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), gender-based violence (GBV), and access to essential services in Fiji, Samoa, and Vanuatu. 

Launch Event: August 22 – 6 pm – 8 pm EST // August 23 – 10 am – 12 pm Fiji time 

Register here: www.bit.ly/PacificLaunch

These new resources center the voices of women and young people with disabilities in Fiji, Samoa, and Vanuatu and offer recommendations for States on how to take action and respond to guarantee essential rights.

Testimonies from our community in the Pacific Region:  

• “A friend of mine with disabilities was raped on a bus while going home. Her family filed a report at the police station, but nothing has happened ever since.” Woman with a physical disability from Port Vila.(Vanuatu)  
• “Sex and family planning are taboos in our culture. Therefore, persons with disabilities lack information and knowledge about these issues.” Woman with a visual impairment from Suva (Fiji) 
• “When I was pregnant, I was so looking forward to taking care of my baby….., [but] my family told me I could not look after my baby.” Deaf woman from Apia (Samoa).  

During the event, speakers will also share what actions are already being taken to implement the report’s recommendations, including an exciting, innovative pilot project being implemented to expand demand for and access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services among women and young people with disabilities in Fiji.

Key report recommendation for States:  

Recruit and train women and young people with disabilities to serve as Community Health Liaisons to provide peer-to-peer education and accompaniment to SRH and GBV services. This role can help strengthen understanding among women and young people with disabilities about the availability and appropriateness of SRH and GBV services, as well as dismantle perceptions that SRH and GBV services are not for people with disabilities.  

Join us to celebrate this groundbreaking research and learn more about how the reports live beyond their pages on August 22 – 8 pm – 8 pm EST // August 23 – 10 am – 12 pm Fiji time.

This event will be held over Zoom. CART captioning and Fijian and Samoan sign-language interpretation will be available. Please register in advance and request any access needs at: www.bit.ly/PacificLaunch or by emailing s.minieri@womenenabled.org.

The full reports are available at the following links:  

• 🇫🇯Fiji: https://bit.ly/PwDFiji  
• 🇼🇸Samoa: https://bit.ly/PwDSamoa  
• 🇻🇺Vanuatu: https://bit.ly/PwDVanuatu  

Check out related work and learn more about the project and our partners in the Pacific:

• Partner Spotlight: Pacific Disability Forum
• Know Your Rights! Gender-Based Violence during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Pacific Region
• Groundbreaking Research and Resources: WEI’s Work in the Pacific
• Gucci’s Chime for Change CHIME Zine No. 5: Disability and Gender-Based Violence in Samoa

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Event Flyer