WWDA had a significant presence at COSP this year with our youth delegate Margherita Dall’Occo Vaccaro and Board member Kat Reed attending as official DSS-funded delegates and Frances Quan Farrant attending as the DPOA delegate leading Comms for the Australian Civil Society delegation.

Leading the comms work was intensive as it required significant co-ordination pre-COSP to ensure all the delegates were properly briefed and had all the necessary information needed to attend the conference.

During the fully packed COSP schedule Frances live tweeted side events, general COSP happenings, and the formal proceedings including the re-election of Australian CRPD committee member Rosemary Kayess.

The delegation also delivered a media release about our collective concerns for the DRC, you can see the release here: https://dpoa.org.au/media-release-response-to-the-disability-royal-commission-chairs-published-opening-statement-on-inclusive-education-from-public-hearing-24/

Daily briefs were written and sent back to Australia top be posted on the DPOA website. Along with these daily updates, Frances captured VLOGS of the delegates which were also uploaded to the DPOA website see here: https://dpoa.org.au/category/united-nations-activities/

Candid camera was also in action with Frances snapping pictures of delegates, the UN precinct, and the events. Frances prefers to be behind the camera rather than in front of it, so she was happy to capture many candid moments of COSP 2022.

Daily blogs, Vlogs, pictures, and live tweeting ensured that the delegations’ activities were recorded, shared and socialised in Australia and internationally. WWDA had a leading role in ensuring this vital international representative work was carried out successfully.

Youth Delegate Report

Youth delegate, Margherita Dall’Occo Vaccaro, has written a report on her experience and learnings from COSP.

“It was such an honour to go to New York and attend the conference.  Not only was I able to interact and grow with the community of disabled people in Australia, as well as meet new people in the community, I was able to learn about a wide array of new ideas and projects to implement in my own youth work and advocacy.”

– Margherita

WWDA COSP 2022 Side Event: Our Site Empowering Women and Girls with Disability through Co-Design

The WWDA team also hosted a virtual side event at the United Nations Conference of state parties (COSP) 2022 showcasing the Our Site project and how it was built in co-design with over 100 women and girls, feminine identifying and non-binary people with disabilities.