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The Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the need for community-driven action more than ever. As the only global funder solely focused on supporting organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) to advance rights, and as a participatory grantmaker involving people with disabilities at all levels, the Disability Rights Fund and the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund have been in a unique position during the pandemic to support needed leadership by OPDs towards ensuring no one is left behind.
In one example, staff of grantee organization, Samoan National Advocacy Organization for Persons with Disabilities - Nuanua O Le Alofa (NOLA), used DRF/DRAF funding to ensure deaf people, such as Maselina Luta, who is also a recipient of the Commonwealth Youth Award for the Pacific Region, were in the lead in advocacy to the (now former) Prime Minister to ensure that all of the Government’s press briefings and health responses were accessible to Samoa’s deaf population.
This included launching a toolkit to eliminate violence against women and girls with disabilities in Samoa, ensuring that deaf women can access information and resources. NOLA also incorporated COVID lessons into advocacy for inclusive elections – in which, for the first time, a woman has just been elected as Prime Minister – and into their work with other OPDs across Samoa to draft an alternative report for submission to the Committee on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Their work and perseverance during crisis is a testament to the innovations and strengths that OPDs can bring to the table to hold governments and other stakeholders accountable for the rights of all citizens.
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Source: Disability Rights Fund