Learning Together to Rise Together
Nepal’s disability movement is diversifying with growing decision-making of marginalized identities. Photo: NIDWAN
At the Disability Rights Fund, we believe in the power of a vibrant, intersectional disability movement where persons with disabilities connect, learn from one another, and build collective movement power.
Our strategic plan, Disability-Led Futures for a Just World, affirms that investing in peer and collective learning builds a dynamic community grounded in shared leadership, innovation, and knowledge exchange to advance disability rights and justice globally. This year, we resourced collective learning exchanges with our partners in Nepal, Indonesia, and Polynesia.
Here are a few highlights:
Rising power of Indigenous Women with disabilities in the Asia-Pacific: In Kathmandu, DRF resourced a second learning exchange of Indigenous women and girls with disabilities, which focused on leadership development and building a strong movement.
Diversifying the disability movement in Nepal: The gathering centered intersectional approaches for building a strong disability movement with the leadership and decision-making of persons with disabilities from marginalized identities. Dalit and Indigenous activists, including activists from Madhesh Province, shared their lived experience with barriers, as well as their strategies for shaping an inclusive disability movement.
Polynesian disability activists spotlighted Indigenous advocacy in the Pacific. Photo: KT Photography
A historic gathering of disability rights activists in Polynesia: DRF resourced the first-ever convening of disability rights activists in Polynesia. The ‘Talanoa’, an Indigenous word for conversations, brought together activists from Cooks Islands, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu. The learning exchange was grounded in the diverse cultures in the Pacific and Indigenous approaches for advocacy. Activists from Fiji Association for the Deaf were invited to share strategies for creating Deaf-led organizations in Polynesia.
Accessibility and equal participation in Indonesia: A dynamic convening of Indonesian activists with disabilities strategized how accessibility and reasonable accommodation are critical for inclusive development, from budgeting and data collection to influencing government policies and passing inclusive laws. Disability activists shared their expertise and innovations, offered peer support, and joined a site visit to see a food security project led by persons with disabilities in Cangkringan.
“The Polynesia Talanoa was a historic gathering. We dialogued on Indigenous ways of working with marginalized disability rights groups, grounding our advocacy in Pacific values for building unity and community-centered practices.”
Faaolo Utumapu-Utailesolo,
Program Officer for Pacific Island Countries.
Together, we are planting the seeds of a truly global, disability-led future—where knowledge is shared, leadership is collective, and no one is left behind. As we look ahead, DRF remains steadfast in our commitment to resourcing peer and collective learning as a vital strategy for systems change. Because when we learn together, we rise together.