Co-sponsored by MNSHD and
HDNSP Disability & Development Team

Speaker: Ola Abu Al Ghaib, Founder and Chairperson of Stars of Hope Society

Chairs: Charlotte McClain-Nhalpo, Sr. Operations Officer, HDNSP, and Regional Disability Coordinator, AFR and EAP, World Bank

and

Iqbal Kaur, Social Protection Specialist and Regional Disability Coordinator, MNSHD, World Bank

The presentation began with a background of the challenges and opportunities for women with disabilities in Palestine in terms of psycho-social, health, educational, employment, access to services, etc. Subsequently, the Stars of Hope Society was introduced, with a discussion of the current programs (individual support, peer counseling, sport activities, survey about the status of women with disabilities in Palestine, capacity building trainings, job promotion, independency trainings, advocacy and lobbying) and future plans (establishment of a research and information unit, promoting the Rights of WWD to work, forming Grassroots Self-Advocacy centres (GSAGs) and strengthening capacity, establishing an Independent Living Centre, organize national awareness campaign to advocate for legislation, policy, services and organizations to be more responsive to, and inclusive of, women with disabilities and increase the awareness about disabled women's rights).

About the Speaker
Ola Abu Al Ghaib, nominated to the Disability Rights Fund (DRF) Global Advisory Panel by the Arab Organisation of Disabled People, is the Founder and Chairperson of Stars of Hope Center, a Disabled Persons’ Organisation in the Occupied Territories which focuses on empowerment of women with disabilities and creation of an enabling environment that guarantees their full social integration and participation as citizens. Twelve years old when, due to a spinal tumor, she sustained an injury of incomplete tetraplegia, Ola has since spent her life advocating for the rights of people with disabilities. She has worked with the German Organisation for the Disabled, CARE International, Handicap International, and the Swedish Organization of Persons with Disabilities International (SHIA). She is currently coordinator for the MENA region for SHIA’s ITP Program on rights and disability. She has an M.A. in Project Management from Birzeit University. In 2006, Ola was selected as an Agent of Change by the Worldwide Network on Disability and Human Rights (an entity managed by SHIA); and elected as an Ashoka Fellow in 2007.