In This Edition

  • WWDA attending Sustainable Development Goals Gender Equity Working Group
  • WWDA welcomes new staff member
  • ACDA meeting with Australian Government Minister for Social Services
  • ACDA launches official website
  • WWDA Youth Networks celebrates International Day of the Girl 2015

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Logo

WWDA Attending UN Sustainable Development Goals Gender Equity Working Group

WWDA Vice-President, Cashelle Dunn and Management Committee Member, Bonnie Millen, will be attending and representing women with disabilities at the The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Gender Equality – Turning Targets into Action working group on 28th October 2015 in Canberra.

The working group will be facilitated by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australian Council for International Development.

The purpose of the workshop is to explore what the SDGs mean for achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment and how Australian Governments and civil society can work individually and collectively to support their implementation and achievement.

Discussion topics will include:

  • Recent international developments and discussions.
  • What the SDGs mean for the work of Australian Governments, development agencies and women’s organisations through to 2030.
  • Reflections on the implications for the SDGs for the international framework on women’s rights and the future role of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
  • Gender equality targets within the SDGs and what the mean for the work of Government, development agencies and women’s organisations.

For further information:

WWDA Welcomes New Policy and Projects Staff Member

Photo of Cristina RicciWWDA is proud to welcome Cristina Ricci as our newest staff member. Cristina has been employed by WWDA as Director, Strategic Policy and Programs in a part-time role and working on the 12-month funded WWDA project Strengthening the voice of WWDA and Women with Disability, funded by the Australian Government Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. More information about the project will be available on the WWDA website soon.

Cristina has over thirty years’ experience promoting and protecting the rights of people with disability and has worked in non-government, government and academic settings, across a range of portfolios including disability, mental health, health and education. She has previously worked for the Australian Human Rights Commission, The Mental Health Council of Australia, NSW Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association, University of Technology Sydney, The University of Sydney, amongst other organisations. She has co-authored major national reports which have resulted in significant systemic change for people with disability across Australia and delivered disability rights training internationally to disability organisations, governments and national human rights institutions delivering positive outcomes for people with disability, communities and government.

Cristina completed her Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Science (Honours) degrees at the University of New South Wales, Bachelor of Primary Education Studies at Charles Sturt University, and also holds a Master of Education, which she completed at the University of Technology Sydney and won the Gwen Muir Memorial Prize for Special Education. Cristina was also accredited as a Master Human Rights Trainer with the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions in 2013.

Please join us in warmly welcoming Cristina!

Australian Cross Disability Alliance Logo

ACDA meeting with Minister for Social Services in late October

The Australian Cross Disability Alliance (ACDA), of which WWDA is a founding member, will be meeting with the Hon Christian Porter MP, Minister for Social Services in late October 2015. ACDA will describe the progress of the Alliance to date, including the identification of cross-disability human rights issues that determine the proactive work of the Alliance, in addition to the broader cross-disability focus of all Alliance work. ACDA will also establish a schedule of regular briefing meetings with the Minister to keep him informed of our work.

For further information:

ACDA Launches Official Website

 The Australian Cross Disability Alliance (ACDA) is proud to announce that we now have an official online presence at www.crossdisabilityalliance.org.au, complementing ACDA ‘s Twitter presence.

The ACDA website provides up-to-date information on the work of the Alliance and provide an accessible, central organising point for all the various aspects of our work across the Australian and International disability and human rights sectors.

On the website you will also find links to access and download ACDA submissions, publications and reports, media releases, and details of our campaigns. The website also connects with the ACDA Twitter feed and includes a latest news blog.

The website was designed to be an interim online presence for ACDA which meets or exceeds basic accessibility standards.

The website was developed by Christopher Brophy in his Director of Strategic Communications role at WWDA with input from the four Alliance members. Comments, feedback and suggestions are welcome – please forward to contact@acda.org.au

For further information:

WWDA Youth Network Logo

WWDA Youth Networks Celebrates International Day of the Girl 2015

In October 2015 Cashelle Dunn, WWDA Youth Network Manager attended the United Nations International Day of the Girl Summit 2015 (IDG2015) in New York. The purpose of the summit was to engage and bring together young women and girls from across the globe to discuss and identify the human rights issue that are important and relevant to them.

In addition to attending the summit on behalf of WWDA, Cashelle made a video and interviewed some of the attendees at the event about why they were there, what rights were important to them. Check it out the captioned video on the WWDA Youth Network website or on the WWDA Youth Network YouTube channel.

A report on WWDA’s representation at the summit will be on the WWDA website soon.

For further information:

If you have a news item, story, or other contribution you think should be included in the next WWDA News bulletin, reply to this email or contact news@wwda.org.au