Giulia Pelosi, Africa Portfolio Manager at the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and Habiba Osman, Executive Secretary of the Human Rights Commission in Malawi pose for a photo during the Sub-Regional Networking Forum for Women with Disability Advocates. /PHOTO ; Courtesy
The Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), in collaboration with Disabled Women in Africa (DIWA), on October 10, 2025, held the Sub-Regional Networking Forum for Women with Disability Advocates to identify sub-regional advocacy priorities and design strategies for sustaining inclusive feminist movements.
The forum, part of the Inclusive and Empowered Feminist Movements in Africa project, brought together women with disabilities and feminist advocates from Kenya, Rwanda, and Malawi.
It sought to foster solidarity, share experiences, and strengthen inclusive advocacy against violence targeting women and girls with disabilities.
The project is co-implemented across the three countries with support from the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women (UN Trust Fund) under the Action for Coalition Building and Transformative Feminist Action (ACT) to End Violence Against Women Programme.
Shifting from Margins to Leadership
Speaking during the event, Ruth Mkutumula, Executive Director of DIWA, acknowledged that women with disabilities have long been excluded due to limited opportunities and capacity.
She said the conference represents a shift in narrative, ensuring that women with disabilities are no longer on the sidelines.
“I cannot help but reflect on the journey that has brought us here. It has been one of growth, learning, and empowerment from the recruitment process, where we were intentional about ensuring inclusion across all forms of disability, to capacity-building efforts that enhance advocacy,” she said.
Mkutumula expressed gratitude to the UN Trust Fund for its continued support, noting that such
investment inspires and strengthens movements advancing the rights of women and girls with disabilities.
COVAW Program Officer, Christine Oyugi, emphasized that the project serves as a shared learning platform where partners exchange ideas and experiences on coalition and movement building.
“We are not trying to reinvent the wheel, but to find how best to use what we have and what our partners bring to achieve lasting impact in ending violence against women and girls,” she said, adding that cross-country collaboration is already building momentum and resilience within the feminist movement.
Strengthening Feminist Movements through Partnerships
Giulia Pelosi, Africa Portfolio Manager at the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, underscored the Fund’s role as a key financial and technical partner supporting efforts to eliminate gender-based violence across the continent.
She noted that the UN Trust Fund strengthens and resources feminist and women-led movements, especially those prioritizing inclusion and intersectionality. “We aim to ensure that women and girls with disabilities, rural women, and other marginalized groups are not left behind in the global fight against violence,” she said.
Pelosi highlighted that through its grants, the Fund supports grassroots and national organizations working to prevent violence, enhance survivor services, and influence policy reform.
Beyond financial aid, it also builds the institutional capacity of organizations to sustain impact beyond project cycles.
“In Africa, the UN Trust Fund continues to invest in inclusive and empowered feminist movements that challenge harmful norms, promote accountability, and ensure that governments prioritize women’s safety and equality,” she added.
Habiba Osman, Executive Secretary of the Human Rights Commission in Malawi, praised the collaboration between COVAW, DIWA, and the UN Trust Fund, describing it as an important intersectional effort to strengthen women’s rights movements in Africa.
She noted that despite the funding challenges faced by many feminist organizations, such partnerships are critical in sustaining advocacy, resilience, and organizational care.
Osman called for long-term, flexible funding to ensure that movements led by women and girls with disabilities continue to thrive even in challenging social and economic environments.
Government Commitment and Policy Reforms
In a speech delivered on behalf of the Principal Secretary for the State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action, Anne Wang’ombe, the government emphasized the importance of ratifying the African Union Convention on Violence Against Women to strengthen Kenya’s policy framework on gender-based violence.
“The government remains committed to ending GBV against women and girls, especially those with disabilities,” Wang’ombe affirmed.
“We recognize the role of civil society organizations, health institutions, and development partners in advancing collaborative efforts to eliminate violence and promote equality.”
She noted that women and girls with disabilities face higher risks of violence compared to men, with 2.5 percent of women living with disabilities versus 1.9 percent of men.
Globally, according to UN Women, women with disabilities are up to three times more likely to experience gender-based violence than those without disabilities, underscoring the urgency of inclusive protection measures.
Wang’ombe highlighted key legal and economic empowerment initiatives, including the Data protection
Act of 2019, the Women Enterprise Fund, and the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) program, which reserves five percent of government tenders for enterprises owned by persons with disabilities.
She also cited the reviewed Persons with Disabilities Act, which requires at least five percent representation of persons with disabilities in public appointments and offers tax exemptions and housing incentives to promote inclusion.
She concluded by calling on all stakeholders to sustain collaboration and advocacy to build a safe, inclusive, and equitable society that safeguards the rights of women and girls with disabilities.
About the Inclusive and Empowered Feminist Movement in Africa
Chilufya C. Siwale, Program Manager at DIWA in Malawi, explained that the Inclusive and Empowered Feminist Movement in Africa project seeks to build stronger, more inclusive feminist movements across Kenya, Malawi, and Rwanda.
She said the initiative brings together women, particularly those with disabilities, to collaboratively advocate for their rights and lead change within their communities.
One of the project’s main strategies, she noted, is to strengthen national feminist movements by supporting the creation of structured networks of women with disabilities.
These networks build capacity, enhance leadership, and enable women to engage effectively in advocacy at national, regional, and global levels.
According to Siwale, the project will run from November 2025 to April 2026 and will include leadership and advocacy training sessions, capacity-building workshops, and experience-sharing forums.
These platforms will allow women with disabilities to exchange lessons, reflect on their journeys, and identify key advocacy priorities such as accessibility in public spaces and representation in decision-making.
She added that the project also facilitates participation in major continental and global platforms, including African Union engagements and international conferences.
Through this exposure, women have raised awareness about disability inclusion, shared challenges such as inaccessible polling stations, and influenced policy discussions to ensure women with disabilities are not left behind in feminist movements.
