Our approaches
UNABU empowers girls and women with disabilities through community activism, leadership development, and advocacy, creating a more inclusive society. With a focus on building strong foundations, our volunteers lead self-advocacy efforts, raise awareness about disability rights, and promote economic empowerment.
Community activism
UNABU’s delivery channel is purposively built on community activism to empower girls and women with disabilities to bring change in their community through active participation, advocacy and engagement as agents of change. Through this community activism, girls and women with disabilities become community volunteers selected in the community and trained on various topics (disability rights, human rights, gender based violence, SRHR, leadership etc).. UNABU counts today 360 community volunteers girls and women with disabilities leading change in lives of r girls and women with disabilities.
Building foundations
Volunteers constitute a cornerstone for all UNABU’s field implementation activities and sustainability while involving and engaging with local leaders and other community structures. They organize, train and follow up self-advocacy groups on regular basis with the support of staff for coaching and linkage with other community structures and opportunities. Building Foundations focus on girls and women with disabilities training on disability, rights, gender and gender based violence and as well self advocacy to enhance their self confidence and agency.
Economic empowerment
Double discrimination faced by girls and women with disabilities limits their access to education, employment and other economic opportunities! Yet education opens news doors of employment UNABU also recognize it is hard and difficult to say no to violence while most of girls and women with disabilities socially and economically depending on the perpetrators. UNABU Economic empowerment solutions include buts not limited to creation of job opportunities through financial literacy and business skills development, vocational skills development, seed capital and financial linkages and internship for graduates young girls with disabilities.
Building partnerships
Convinced that prevention of GBV against girls and women with disabilities require comprehensive approach targeting a wide range of stakeholders UNABU invest in creating supportive and protective surrounding environment for girls and women with disabilities through trainings of stakeholders in disability mainstreaming that to facilitated access to a wide range of support services and opportunities for girls and women with disabilities everywhere they are; initiating coalitions and take part various networks and plate forms for ensure the voice for women with disabilities on intersecting factors is heard.
Raising awareness
The double discrimination faced by girls and women with disabilities in their households and surrounding communities put them at higher risks of violence at both households, in the community and in public spaces. In most of cases and based on various assessment conducted by UNABU girls and women with disabilities fear to attend public spaces, in lack the opportunities to fully participate in the decision making because of persisting negatives attitudes and social norms. In addressing all these challenges UNABU organize awareness sessions targeting community members and family members of girls and women with disabilities for creating enabling community and family and inspiring inclusive practices.
Advocacy
At national level, UNABU is engaged advocacy for specific issues including but not limited to access to education, employment and justice, inclusive GBV and SRH as well accessibility of Isange One Stop Centers supporting victim. UNABU has recently joined other civil society organization to advocate for a gender and disability inclusive COVID 19 national economic recovery plan.
Young girls’ leadership
UNABU target to prevent violence at early age before our own younger sisters become victims. On the other side the future of UNABU and the disability movement in general depend on the young voices these empowered change makers. It is with this future perspective UNABU invest much efforts in building young girls leadership as the future change leaders.