Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) is pleased to release our next Strategic Plan for the period 2017 to 2021.
Our Strategic Plan reflects our fierce commitment to promoting and advancing the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women with disability. Our plan for the next five years, like all of our work, is grounded in a rights based framework which links gender and disability issues to a full range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
Over the next five years, WWDA will consolidate our role as the national representative organisation of and for women and girls with disability in Australia, enabling and representing their interests and issues. WWDA will:
- Continue to develop innovative programs that are centred on issues identified by women and girls with disability.
- Stimulate debate, promote research, policy and program development, and advocate for reforms in the policy priority areas identified by our members. We will continue to develop strategic alliances and collaborative partnerships with other stakeholders to achieve our objectives.
- Maintain our work with mainstream organisations in ways that encourage them to re-orient their policies, services and practices to be fully inclusive of women and girls with disability.
- Continue to build on our key role in the production and dissemination of high quality information, publications and research on human rights issues identified by women and girls with disability.
WWDA’s Strategic Plan 2017-2021 will see us undertaking specific and targeted systemic advocacy work in areas identified by our members as a priority. These areas encompass key human rights issues where there are continuing violations against women and girls with disability in Australia, and include: the right to freedom from all forms of violence and abuse; the right to sexual and reproductive freedom, including the right to found and maintain a family; the right to economic security, including the right to work; and, the right to decision-making and participation.
WWDA thanks the many women and girls with disability who contributed to the development of our strategic plan through the National Forum for Women and Girls with Disability, held in Melbourne on 6 April 2016.