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"Visability" Project Raises Awareness for Differently-Abled

A group of people kneel on stage for a group photo

By Ahmad Aziz, YES 2009-2010, Indonesia, hosted by PAX

Based on data published by the World Health Organization (WHO), differently-abled people make up more than 10 percent of the total population, yet they still have inadequate access to reproductive health education. Providing the right information would help the effort to minimize risks regarding reproductive health.

More attention and resources should be devoted to raising awareness about reproductive health, especially for differently-abled youth. Reproductive health and rights for differently-abled people were part of the agenda at the International Conference on Population and Developemtn (ICPD). The result was an appeal to raise awareness for the fulfilment of reproductive health for all people without exception.

Seeing this, Ahmad Aziz (YES '10), collaborated with the Kojigema Institute (KI) to found the Visability Project (Visibility of Young People with Disabilities to Access Their Rights), a non-profit organization that works with marginalized groups. The Visibility Project is also fully supported by AFS (American Field Service) Intercultural Programs--Bina Antarbudaya Foundation and YES Alumni Small Grants.

The Visability Project is designed to help differently-abled youth access their rights. It implemented four activities throughout the course of a year, including a seminar; a flashmob themed, Dance4Visalibity; an Art4Visability workshop; and an exhibition showcasing the work of workshop participants. 

The Visability Project kicked off on November 3, 2015 with an interactive talkshow held at the Di Lo (Digital Lounge) TELKOM in Malang. The episode focused on the theme, Celebrate Our Different Abilities: The Fulfillment of Reproductive Health for Differently-Abled People. More than 80 participants attended the event, including teachers, differently-abled students and their parents, and members of the public interested in reproductive health issues. 

 

Farida Candrayani, a trainer from SAPDA (Advocacy Center for Differently-Abled Women and Children) and Wiwik Sulistyrini, a women's rights activist, hosted the talkshow. Both hosts highlighted the importance of reproductive health education, and especially accomodating reproductive health education materials for differently-abled peope.

The interactive talkshow opened with Ummatul Chumairoh, a female deaf student, performing a traditional Baskalan dance. She showed that differently-abled people have many capabilities and talents.

The objective of the interactive talkshow was to provide information about the importance of communication between children and their parents on comprehensive reproductive health education. We expect that differently-abled youths will get more clear information about reproductive health in order to prevent any forms of violence, including sexual violence.


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