Booklet on leadership experiences of 40 women with disabilities launched

At the start of a 2-day stakeholder workshop, we launched a booklet that shares profiles of 40 women with disabilities in leadership spaces in Kenya. As a Network we celebrate both big and small milestones that our members, who are women with disabilities, make in their communities.

“This is a reference to our journey as women with disabilities,” said Lucy Mulombi, our County Lead in Kakamega County. “I am glad that even our grandchildren and mentees will read about us,” she added. Just like Lucy, we are all excited about the big step of putting the booklet together. Working with the 40 women has inspired us greatly. We acknowledge their dedication and commitment to disability inclusion, and we are so happy that more young girls with disabilities will see themselves in these leaders. They will have women with disabilities that they can look up to, (in a beautiful booklet so to add 😊).

It has been significant that we launch this booklet in a meeting with stakeholders, including women’s rights organisations, youth organisations and funders among others.

We want to create more collaborations with movements in the social justice movement and we are happy to share this beautiful collection with them.

We live in a context where women with disabilities still face immense barriers that impede their participation in leadership and public life.

“How can you lead us from your wheelchair,” we recall Catherine sharing. These hurtful words were coming from community members who still find it difficult to believe that a woman with a disability can be elected as a leader. Yet Catherine did not give up. And even if she was not elected, she continues to disrupt the disability discrimination in her community. It is the reason at the Network level we call ourselves #DisabilityDisruptors, because in our own small ways, we are working to disrupt disability-based discrimination. Cate is one among the 40 women that we have profiled.

“We must keep standing in our power as feminist disability disruptors,” said Mildred Ngesa who is facilitating the space for us. It is a powerful space, we must add. Not just Mildred, but also Saida Ali from Hivos who spoke passionately about intersectionality, calling our attention to realities of power, privilege, and the space and opportunity we each must utilise to bring change in our societies.

“We are pushing our visibility, we must be seen,” said Elizabeth Mang’eni the Network Communications Liaison. “The booklet, as well as other materials like the notebook and the stickers will go a long way in making sure that we are not forgotten as women with disabilities and the work we are doing,” she added. 

The 2-day workshop is a step that the Network has taken to strengthen collaboration across different spaces as well as reaching out to potential funders. There are instances where many women with disabilities don’t know about existing programs that specifically target them, and we hope that by creating these connections we would be tapping more into such resources from across movements.

Among the sessions during the workshop is reflecting through available funding streams and discussions of how as the Network of women with disabilities we can tap into such existing opportunities.

We are thankful to our resource partners, CREA and Ford Foundation, for making this space possible.