Seven years ago, Friana Kwebila, an 18-year-old woman with a disability from Vanuatu, attended a coaching session organised by the Commonwealth Games Foundation. For Friana, it was a unique experience. She said it was the first time she felt treated as a human being.
A year later, Friana made history in Australia by winning Vanuatu’s first Commonwealth Games medal, winning bronze in the women’s F46 javelin.
Friana Kwebila will represent Vanuatu at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast (Photo: Commonwealth Games Federation)
Juliana’s victory broke barriers for women with disabilities and for female athletes in general, making her a national hero, and her success has transformed how many families in Vanuatu perceive and treat people with disabilities.
Inspired by Friana, a mother wanting a better future for her disabled daughter took her to a local school in Vanuatu to ask if her daughter could receive an education.
“That is the impact that sporting opportunity has,” highlighted Chris Jenkins OBE, chairman of the Commonwealth Games Foundation, on 3 July 2024.
He was speaking at an event titled, “Empowering Women: Barriers and Inclusion in Diplomacy through Sport,” organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the High Commission of Antigua and Barbuda to the UK and Women in Diplomacy.
Speaking to a gathering of High Commissioners, athletes, activists and youth leaders at the Secretariat’s headquarters in London, Chris said: “Sport can change people’s minds. It can spark those conversations, it can help people open their eyes and see people with disabilities for who they are.”
Inclusive
This theme of inclusion resonated throughout the event, with speakers from across the Commonwealth talking about what women with disabilities can achieve if given the opportunity.
Anne Wafula Strike MBE, British Paralympian and Secretary-General’s Champion for Equality in Sport, shared her own story of defying the societal constraints placed on her to build a fulfilling life.
Born in a small village in western Kenya, Anne contracted polio at the age of two, which left her with no use in both legs, and as she grew older, she was frequently targeted for exclusion.
Anne recalls: “When my classmates were playing at school, I was ignored and told to look after their belongings. The teachers didn’t know how to include me.”
The discrimination against Anne was so severe that her family had to emigrate to Nairobi, where she continued her education and began working as a teacher.
Years later, Anne moved to England and started going to the gym to lose weight.
That decision gave her her first exposure to Paralympic competition and began a journey that saw her compete in wheelchair races at the World Championships and the Paralympic World Cup.
Reflecting on her own journey, Ann told attendees that the only thing separating people with disabilities from everyone else was opportunity, and that sport is the “great equalizer” that breaks down barriers.
Ann, now 55 and a passionate activist, said she was surprised by her former classmates’ reaction to her achievement.
“They asked me how this could happen,” Ann recalls, “and my answer was simple: opportunity.”
Ang urged attendees to not only celebrate the achievements of athletes with disabilities at top sporting events, but also to recognise the barriers they face along their journey.
To do this, Anne Wafula-Strike continued, countries need to treat disability as a priority, not an afterthought, and she cited the London 2012 Paralympic Games as a compelling example of the benefits of inclusion.
Research has shown that the London 2012 Paralympic Games had an overwhelmingly positive impact on public attitudes towards people with disabilities.
Similar messages were echoed by prominent women with disabilities from a range of professions.
Not all disabilities are visible
“Sport is a powerful vehicle for change,” said Carla Kwartlough, Canada’s Minister of Sport and Physical Activity and a three-time Paralympic bronze medalist.
She was speaking at the event as chair of the Commonwealth Sports Ministers’ Meeting, which is being held on 25 July to coincide with the 2024 Olympics.
“People with disabilities are reminded every day that the world was not built with our needs in mind,” she added.
Minister Kwartlough said policy-making is another powerful opportunity to effect change, adding that if people with disabilities are given a voice in the process, prejudice, discrimination and exclusion can be addressed.
Jill Atkinson, the recent British deputy high commissioner to Nigeria who was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 30, said perseverance enabled her to manage a decades-long career as a diplomat despite her disability.
“Not all disabilities are visible,” she reminded attendees.
Left to right: The Honourable Karen May Hill, Chris Jenkins OBE and Gill Atkinson at Marlborough House, London.
Her Excellency Karen May Hill, Antigua and Barbuda High Commissioner to the UK, emphasised sport as a driver of inclusion.
“Sport teaches us that abilities are extraordinary and that everyone can achieve excellence,” she said, adding that she hopes the event will inspire countries to truly embrace women with disabilities.
Other speakers, including Her Excellency Saida Muna Tasneem, Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK, made a series of proposals to ensure equal opportunities and protection for women with disabilities.
These included a dedicated Commonwealth Paralympic Games, a programme to address high levels of violence against women with disabilities, and a quota system to ensure that people with disabilities have a say in government decisions that affect them.
The outcomes of the event will contribute to discussions at the upcoming Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting.
“Our lives will not change unless we all change,” Anne told the audience in an impassioned message from her wheelchair. “As a black woman with a disability, life is a constant battle from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed.”
Media Contact
Snowbelle Abbasi, Senior Communications Officer, Communications Division, Commonwealth Secretariat
Email
Source link