Rather than providing rehabilitation services or assistive appliances such as wheelchairs, the project focuses on interpersonal communication: supporting disabled women to be leaders and advocate for their rights.

Recognising the lack of evidence-based data and information about disabled women's situations, attitudes of policymakers, and the shortcomings of disability projects run by governments and NGOs, each partner carried out a baseline survey in their own country. A study also gathered regional evidence in Nepal under the guidance of AWWD. Based on findings, collaborators planned leadership training to create more disabled women leaders at regional, national, and grassroot levels. Healthlink Worldwide in the United Kingdom (UK) provided technical support and guidance to design modules, develop materials, and conduct leadership trainings to all the core partners.

The training prompts disabled women to think about leadership. Who is a leader? What kind of leader do you want to be? How can you be a good leader to influence other disabled women? How do power relationships, discrimination, and marginalisation affect disabled women at all levels from the family to the wider community and nationally? How can you influence policymakers, and what is a good advocacy strategy? What is the existing international legislation for the protection of the rights of disabled people, and women specifically?

Organisers conducted regional leadership training, with 25 disabled women participating from South Asian countries. They then held national trainings in the three core countries - India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka - for over 75 disabled women. Similar national-level training in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Bhutan is planned for 2009.

These examples of new leadership in action are illustrative. Rupa in India has started her own initiative to organise disabled women in her district, transfer her leadership skills, and advocate for their rights. Nishintha in Sri Lanka is organising disabled women and conducting leadership training at district level. In each country, disabled women have formed networks to build nationwide movement and advocacy. Across the region disabled women are communicating, sharing, and disseminating information about their new initiatives to the global community - in part through a network website (Network of South Asian Women With Disabilities, or NSAWWD) set up as a resource on disabled women's issues.

Women, Gender, Rights

AWWD prepared for this project by analysing the root of the marginalisation of disabled women. They found that these women are often invisible and unable to voice their discrimination. AWWD explains that disabled women in India face multiple forms of discrimination; as a result, disabled girls and women struggle to access rights to education, health, employment, etc. The research revealed that they often have low self-esteem, low levels of literacy, and experience discrimination by their own families. Disabled girls and women living in rural areas are more deprived than those in urban areas as there are few support services, and gender-biased cultural practices are more common. These barriers for disabled women to exercise their rights are exacerbated by a lack of leadership among, and by, the women themselves.

According to AWWD, "After the training, disabled women were highly motivated to take action and become more visible. They became more confident and better organised. Now when they have advocacy meetings with government representatives they talk with greater boldness and strategic intention. In India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the governments know there are disabled women trying to get their voices heard....In South East Asia, largely because of this initiative, disabled women are starting to understand that their rights cannot be claimed by anyone else. They are coming forward, speaking for themselves and showing strong leadership to other disabled women."

Kuhu Das is a disabled woman activist who founded AWWD. She explains, "I had polio in early childhood causing impairment in my mobility, so I am disabled. When I started working for the empowerment of women in general, I realised that empowerment programmes did not include disabled women. At every forum I would bring up issues around disability but I was the only person talking about it. Hardly any disabled women would come out and talk about themselves and their rights. So I decided to work for the empowerment of disabled women..."