Experiencing #CSW68: Centering Disability Justice in Global Feminist Spaces

Mildred Omino represented the Kenya Network of Women and Girls with Disabilities in #CSW68 with the support of CREA, under the Women Gaining Ground Program. Here, she reflects on what inclusive feminist spaces mean for her, and broadly for women with disabilities.

The just concluded Women’s History Month left me with an indelible mark and thoughtful reflections. Traditionally, Women’s History Month is celebrated in the month of March to honor the achievements and contributions of women of all backgrounds by remembering those who paved the way in the struggle for gender equity and recognizing the history-makers and barrier-breakers of today. I had a wonderful opportunity to participate in the 68th Session of the Commission of Status of Women (CSW) in New York City at the United Nations Headquarters. The CSW promotes women's political, economic, civil, social, and educational rights by advancing equality, development and peace as well as monitoring the implementation of gender equality measures across the United Nations.

Sharing space with global policymakers, feminists, development partners and women's rights activists was a highlight for me. With the theme centered on “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective,” the CSW had numerous side events organized by various actors. I was spoilt for choice in terms of which events to attend at any given time, symbolic of the diverse and cross-cutting nature of women's rights and feminist issues in a global setting.

I am truly grateful to the Kenya Network of Women and Girls with Disabilities for opening doors for this global advocacy space. The Network with the support of Creating Resources for Empowerment & Action (CREA) under the Women Gaining Ground (WGG) Consortium nominated me to represent them in a CSW side event.  Our side event titled “Disability Justice Youth Leadership & Systemic Structural Gender-Based Violence; Consequences and Counter Narratives from the Global South” attracted an audience that included feminists, policymakers, funders, and their allies. Indeed, it was an opportunity for meaningful interaction and conversations beyond proposal writing, project implementation, and report writing in customized templates to real and practical experiences of shifting narratives that have historically marginalized structurally excluded groups.

We had rich conversations ranging from the experiences of women with disabilities and young women in tackling Gender-Based Violence and Political Leadership as well as navigating the Feminist Spaces in the Global South. The realities of Feminist Movement Building and cross-movement cooperation with the disability justice movement in complex political, social, cultural, and administrative structures and frameworks where grassroots organizations can barely meet the funding requirements from reputable funders. The realities of participation of women with disabilities in a world where less is understood regarding accessibility in its comprehensive approach and the funding implications of the same. These are just some of the discussions that featured in our panel.

How exactly are these global feminist spaces designed to propel Women's rights agenda? One might ask. Even as I boarded the flight to New York, this was my curiosity and certainly how the Network as a Collective can make the best out of these global opportunities. So much to reflect on both in terms of opportunities and challenges. These spaces come with a lot of opportunities for Networking with like-minded groups, solidarity building, learning, collective advocacy, and cross-movement collaboration that is much needed to move the voices of women with disabilities from the margins to the center.

My clarion call is to have more women with disabilities participating in these global spaces, contributing to shaping policies on women’s rights and feminist movements as well as to demystify the long-term invisibility of women with disabilities in all spheres of life.

Certainly, more work needs to be done to ensure that barriers to participation in these important global spaces are completely removed. Accessibility is a prerequisite to participation, something that requires a lot more sensitization and pragmatic actions as it remains a major setback in ensuring that global feminist spaces are inclusive. 

Similar feminist Convenings such as the Generation Equality Forum and Women Deliver Conference were marred with accessibility challenges. I will reiterate the recommendations that we made with Shubha in the article titled The Gender Equality Agenda Must Be Inclusive of Women with Disabilities. These are; including disability perspectives in planning all events, considering accessibility to be more than a checklist for compliance, leveraging the expertise of women with disabilities and their advocates to support the design, implementation and monitoring of events and holding institutions accountable for their responsibility to include everyone and to not leave anyone behind.