This blog is published in memory of Judith (Judy) Heumann, a lifelong and tireless civil rights activist who served as the World Bank’s first Advisor on Disability and Development from 2002 to 2006 and passed away on March 4, 2023. Judy was instrumental in developing the World Bank’s disability inclusion plan.
Beata Nirahabinshuti, a school teacher in Kigali, knows what it feels like to be left out. As a blind woman, she struggled to get by in the workplace due to a lack of facilities to accommodate her disability. But that all changed. The Inclusive Education Initiative (IEI) and the Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) provided training for Beata and 21 other blind teachers, as well as principals, to facilitate teaching in mainstream schools. Beata’s school assigned her to an accessible classroom with an assistant and provided her with braille paper and a laptop with accessible software. Beata now feels empowered to thrive in the classroom and pursue her passion of educating children.
Beata is far from alone: one in five women, or 20% of the female population, has a disability. Women with disabilities experience similar obstacles to women without disabilities, but they also encounter additional types of discrimination and environmental barriers that impede their socio-economic participation. This International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate the diversity, achievements, and ambitions of women around the world, but we must remain focused on overcoming the barriers women, especially those on the margins, still face to participate freely and equally in society. Our new toolkit, “Inclusion of Women and Girls with Disabilities in World Bank Group Operations,” supports our efforts to better deliver on our commitment to gender equality and disability inclusion.
Lack of practical knowledge and data gaps regarding the inclusion of women with disabilities are barriers to effective interventions. Women with disabilities are largely underrepresented in official statistics and surveys. Data on disability is rarely disaggregated by gender, and gender-specific data rarely specifies disability. The toolkit identifies key issues to consider from a gender and disability perspective when designing projects and other interventions – inter alia: physical and digital accessibility, enabling laws and policies, data availability, awareness, affordability, acceptability and safety.
The meaningful participation of women with disabilities is crucial to overcoming their exclusion. Leadership structures in the disability movement often reflect the patriarchal norms that exist in many social strata, and women with disabilities are much less likely to assume leadership roles than men with disabilities. To overcome the resulting gender gap, the toolkit helps project implementers look at the intersectional issues of gender and disability inclusion throughout the project cycle. Solutions to circumvent barriers include creating safe spaces for women with disabilities, flexible meeting times and making women facilitators. Development projects can only be truly inclusive if the voices of women with disabilities are listened to.
Reaching people with disabilities requires taking what is called the “last step” towards a truly sustainable and inclusive development process. These efforts lead to behavioral changes that enrich people’s daily lives and change perceptions of disability. For example, Beta has also noticed that communication at school has become more accessible. “Before, they would post photos in WhatsApp groups without explanation,” she says. “But now they add explanations, and the principal has started sharing examples of how to be disability inclusive in assemblies.”This International Women’s Day, let us recommit ourselves to ensuring equal opportunities for all.