Events

Past & Recurring Events

Global Disability and Disaster Town Hall Meetings

Leading up to the launch of the Global Alliance for Disaster Resource Acceleration, we hosted two Global Disability and Disaster Town Hall Meetings via Zoom, bringing together hundreds of disabled leaders to discuss the experiences of people with disabilities and disability-led organizations in the coronavirus pandemic.

We will continue to host these Global Disability and Disaster Town Hall meetings on a regular basis.

GADRA Disability + Disaster Panel Meeting: Held on November 19, 2020

Event graphic with text and photo. Text repeated in body of the post. Photo: 2 Black and disabled people strolling down a sidewalk side by side. On the left, a non-binary person walks with a cane in one hand and a tangle stim toy in the other. In the middle, a woman rolls along in her pink power wheelchair. Photo by Disabled and Here.
Thursday, November 19, 2020
12 to 1 pm EST / 5 to 6 pm UTC
International Sign + captions in English provided
This “Call-To-Action” panel, moderated by Priya Penner of The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies and GADRA, brought together four dynamic young leaders with disabilities from around the world:

  • Minerva Green, Sophomore, Student Government Association, The University of The Bahamas, The Bahamas
  • Borbála Ivicsics, International Communications Manager, FREEKey, Hungary
  • Faith Njahîra, Independent Consultant and Co-Founder, Muscular Dystrophy Society Kenya
  • Sabrina Epstein, Student Researcher and Communications Intern, The John Hopkins Disability Health Research Center, Johns Hopkins University, United States

The panelists showcased their innovative work and how it intersects with the global pandemic, emergency management, and disaster risk reduction, response, and rebuilding. They described how we can better support young leaders and provide insights for future inclusive planning and response, including distribution of resources to disability-led organizations – the foundation of GADRA.

We were delighted to announce Jen Msumba, an award-winning disabled musician, filmmaker, singer and songwriter who debuted a new song and opened this GADRA event.

We were also joined by representatives of GADRA Founders’ Circle – Wells Fargo, Kessler Foundation, and United States International Council on Disabilities (USICD). These organizations support inclusion of youth and young adults with disabilities in our common work.

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WID has hosted several webinars where people with disabilities and disability-led organizations from around the world have come to share their experiences and needs as we navigate the coronavirus pandemic.

To learn more about the Global Disability and Disaster Town Hall meetings, including video recordings,  transcripts, and polling results from previous sessions, visit the Global Disability and Disaster Town Hall page and COVID-19 page on WID’s website via the linked images below:

Text: Global Disability + Disaster Town Hall Meetings. Collage of ears, speech bubbles, hands signing, and a hand using a communication board.

WID hosts several different events annually and sometimes even biannually. Click on one of the following links to read about them.

Additionally, WID supports disability inclusion efforts and accessibility features for about ten conferences per year through the Conference Accessibility Initiative. View the photo gallery from the 2016 initiative, the 2017 initiative, the 2018 initiative, or the 2019 initiative to learn more.

For more information about events, contact Kat Zigmont, WID’s Director of Operations, at kat@wid.org.

If you are having technical issues or accessibility issues on this site, email wid@wid.org.

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