Over 60 women with disabilities (WWDs) who are members of Special Interest Groups (SIGs) convened by Aawaz II in Abbottabad, Buner, Lower Dir, Malakand, Nowshera, and Peshawar along with government officials and rights’ defenders participated in an Aawaz II WWD Summit: Breaking Barriers, Building Futures.

Participating WWDs shared their lived experiences. “We are not treated with respect,” said one participant. “We do not have equal access to jobs, education, transport,” pointed another WWD. Many participants presented powerful testimonies of transforming personal challenges into successes in claiming equal opportunities. “With determination, I started preparing local crafts and now run a profitable business of clothing and home products,” shared a participant. Working in groups, WWDs drafted critical demands like mandatory accessibility in public buildings and systematic registration campaigns for PWDs. Participants also called for greater public sensitisation. “Words like abnormal must not be used for us,” they said.

Participants commended Aawaz II’s sustained work on disability rights, especially of women living with disabilities. A participant from Buner said, “Aawaz II has given me confidence. My disability became my ability, changing my stigma into a privilege.”

The Summit provided inter-district networking opportunities to WWDs and also connected them with national-level disability rights’ stalwarts like Ms. Abia Akram and the National Forum of Women with Disabilities. The event enabled WWDs to engage with senior representatives of the KP Social Welfare Department and the KP Commission on the Status of Women.

Speaking at the concluding session, Ms. Rukhshanda Naz, member of Aawaz II’s Provincial Forum, encouraged WWDs to work collectively. She said that Aawaz II provides an inclusive platform in which WWDs, other vulnerable groups, rights’ defenders and the government work together for dignity of all.

Aawaz II, funded by the UK’s FCDO is implemented by the British Council with #omarasgharkhanfoundation in different KP districts supporting citizen actions to prevent gender-based violence, child marriage and social disharmony. It builds the leadership of women and youth in all their diversity.