This August, Paper Crown Rwanda is excited to begin a collaboration with a brand new partner: Umuryango Nyarwanda w'Abagore Bafite Ubumuga (UNABU), or the Rwandan Organization of Women with Disability. UNABU is a local Rwandan NGO providing empowerment, livelihood, and advocacy initiatives for girls and women with disabilities (GWWD).

"The most important thing to promote a better experience for [girls and women with disabilities] is ensuring they overcome self stigma and social stigma by the community, and that they are empowered enough to lead the change they want." - Gaudence Mushimiyimana, Executive Director of UNABU, the Rwandan Organization of Women with Disabilities

As an exciting kick-off event for this partnership, we’re working with UNABU to conduct a two-day workshop, where we’ll meet with adolescent girls with disabilities in Rwanda and cover topics such as rights, power, self-confidence, and leadership.

In order to prepare for the event, we asked UNABU’s Executive Director, Gaudence Mushimiyimana, some questions about the gender and disability in the landscape of Rwanda, how COVID-19 has impacted girls and women with disabilities in the country, and what needs to happen to make sustainable change.

Hear from Gaudence below:

Paper Crown Rwanda: Gaudence, we’re so excited to be working with UNABU! Can you tell us a bit more about what your organization does?

Gaudence: Since its creation, UNABU has been involved in advocacy and human rights for girls and women with disabilities (GWWDs), gender-based violence, access to justice, and economic empowerment.

Currently, we are implementing projects in 12 districts in Rwanda. The current projects focus on GBV prevention; human rights and access to justice; and sexual and reproductive health (SRH).

Across the districts where we work, UNABU counts 247 volunteers supporting 8,112 women with disabilities gathered into self-advocacy groups considered to be safe spaces for GWWDs to share their experiences, understand their issues and therefore start new initiatives to address issues affecting their life at the community and family levels.

We also facilitate a young girls’ mentorship-specific program, aimed at leveraging 75 young girls’ leadership in gender based violence prevention and advocacy.

Despite much progress achieved by Rwanda in gender and disability promotion, girls and women with disabilities lack voices among the movement of people with disabilities (PWDs) in general. This will not change until girls and women with disabilities’ voices are heard, and they are able to stand to lead the change themselves, to share their interpretations and expectations from development, human rights and women’s rights initiatives, and thereby hold different stakeholders accountable.

Sandrine Ishimwe is young girl mentee with multiple disabilities, who is part of our Disabled Young Girls Leadership in GBV Prevention project funded by AWDF. (Photo provided by UNABU) — *Sandrine Ishimwe is young girl mentee with multiple disabilities, who is part of our* Disabled Young Girls Leadership in GBV Prevention project funded by AWDF. (Photo provided by UNABU)

PCR: How have women and girls with disabilities in Rwanda been affected by the COVID pandemic?

Gaudence: The findings of a quick assessment conducted by UNABU in April-May 2020 indicate that girls and women with disabilities were differently affected by the COVID-19 pandemic based on their types of disabilities, ranging from their access to information, access to resources, access to healthcare, and an increase in gender based violence. Additionally, there were widespread negative effects on their social, emotional, and economic well-being.

In general, 93% of girls and women with disabilities reported having faced at least one challenge during the lockdown. COVID-19 protection products and other sanitation products came at the top of the challenges, having been faced by 73% of G+WWDs from the rural communities for all types of disabilities. Food shortages were also observed among 56% of GWWDs participants in the assessment.

Across all types of disabilities, girls and women with hearing & speaking impairment (78%) along with those with multiple disabilities (59%) come on the top of the most affected groups. Girls and women with multiple (59%), intellectual and psychosocial disabilities (51%) along with hearing and speaking impairment (42%) are the most facing challenges to access information.

“Girls and women with disabilities [in Rwanda] were differently affected by the COVID-19 pandemic based on their types of disabilities, ranging from their access to information, access to resources, access to healthcare, and an increase in gender ba… — “Girls and women with disabilities [in Rwanda] were differently affected by the COVID-19 pandemic based on their types of disabilities, ranging from their access to information, access to resources, access to healthcare, and an increase in gender based violence. Additionally, there were widespread negative effects on their social, emotion, and economic well being.”

The majority of girls and women with all types of disabilities reported high awareness about the COVID-19 pandemic, how COVID spreads, and the stay-home measures. However, the current assessment reveals gaps in accessing prioritized sources of information specifically for girls and women with disabilities from rural areas. Most girls and women with disabilities have no access to the currently prioritized channels which spread the information about COVID-19 and measures.

Our data confirmed that only 57% of respondents own their own mobile phone or have someone in their households who owns a phone, while only 35% have a radio, and 33% of respondents have no radio, phone, or TV. GWWDs’ awareness about COVID-19 prevention measures and symptoms also revealed the gap: information they have received is not consistent. These reality reflects the double discrimination faced by girls and women with disabilities at the intersection of gender and disability.

In total 83% of the GWWDs who participated in the assessment reported that COVID-19 has differently impacted them socially, emotionally, and impacted their livelihood status. Access to basic services like health, sanitation, food, sexual reproductive health products, and services, etc. was limited. 79% of all GWWDs we heard from reported that they missed out services they needed because they either had no information about where to go to access them, or because public transport was stopped and they had no financial support to afford private transport. This was also true for access to health care.

Because of their disabilities, some GWWDs need regular medical support, such as medicine, devices, etc. Although health care services are among essential services, some girls and women with disabilities missed (and are still missing) these services for several reasons: lack of information on the flexibility of stay home measures for essential services, lack of transportation options, and financial means to afford transport and even pay for health services.

Additionally, COVID- 19 has created conditions for violence and exploitation of girls and women with disabilities’ in different ways. In our survey, 44% of respondents confirmed that COVID-19 stay home measure has fueled gender based violence (GBV); and for those living alone, isolation and fear of violence were also stressors.

GWWDs also see the future and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as difficult, especially concerning upcoming health insurance, restarting their small-selling activities which provided them income, and because those supporting GWWDs in Rwanda have also been impacted.

“Arranging inclusive spaces for girls and women with disabilities’ self discovery and visibility is among the key strategies to enhance their leadership and shift the borders of inclusion. Creating a disability-friendly environment by including GWWDs into organizations’ program design as experts to advise about necessary adjustments towards their full inclusion and meaningful participation is critical. ”

— Gaudence Mushimiyimana, UNABU

PCR: So, what is the role of small organizations in combating gender-based and (dis)ability-based discrimination? What can organizations like UNABU and PCR do to make the world a better place for women and girls in Rwanda?

Gaudence: Girls and women with disabilities face double discrimination based on the facts they are women and have disabilities. They have no place and voice among their fellow women and their brother boys and men with disabilities. Therefore, the most important thing to promote a better experience for them is ensuring they overcome self stigma and social stigma by the community, and that they are empowered enough to lead the change they want.

Arranging inclusive spaces for girls and women with disabilities' self discovery and visibility is among the key strategies to enhance their leadership and shift the borders of inclusion. Creating a disability-friendly environment by including GWWDs into organizations’ program design as experts to advise about necessary adjustments towards their full inclusion and meaningful participation is critical.

For this to happen, removing attitudinal institutional, communication, and physical barriers is paramount for GWWDs’ full participation.