March 8 - 15, 2022
The Bridge CRPD-SDGs national cycle for Bangladesh opened on International Women's day in Dhaka. Amba Salelkar, Bridge CRPD-SDGs Officer, welcomed 24 participants from 14 districts...
Since its early years of existence, IDA has been supporting disability activists to engage in advocacy and develop their skills and experience, including through accessing exposure to international human rights monitoring and advocacy work. Over the years, fellowships have developed and have proven to be essential to the overall development of the capacities of the disability rights movement and disability activists.
IDA fellowships provide a unique combination of opportunities to learn, be exposed to a different policy, advocacy and monitoring processes, and to contribute directly to initiatives aimed at advancing the rights of persons with disabilities.
Fellowships are meant to be mutually beneficial to the fellow and the hosting team/ organisation: they are key steps in individual trajectories of disability activists and have proven to bring a welcome contribution to IDA and IDA members’ work.
Please find below examples of IDA members' fellowships supported through the Disability Catalyst Programme funded by DFID (2017-2020).
Full Name: Aboubacar Mahamane Bobo
Country of Origin: Niger
Organization: African Disability Forum (ADF)
Duration of Fellowship: March - December 2018
Fellowship Objectives: support to the President of the Forum Africain des Personnes Handicapées (FAPH) in administrative tasks.
During his fellowship, Aboubacar was involved in preparation of the Niger report on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). His role was to forward and follow the correspondence of the President of the FAPH asking certain targeted ministries to provide information on the implementation of the SDGs for the benefit of people with disabilities in Niger.
Aboubacar participated in the Bridge CRPD-SDGs training Francophone West Africa in Niger.
He also supported the organization of workshops hosted by FAPH through its members. Fédération ouest-africaine des personnes handicapées (FOAPH) and the Fédération Nigerienne des Personnes Handicapées FNPH), notably the training workshop for editors and administrators of Portail Régional Ouest Africain sur les Droits et l’Inclusion des Personnes Handicapées (PROADIPH) was held from June 18 to 23, 2018 in Niamey.
Aboubacar was also in charge of daily administrative and office tasks, follow up and organizing meetings for the President of FAPH and his collaborators or partners.
Full Name: Mihret Nigussie Chengerei
Country of Origin: Ethiopia
Organization: Ethiopia National Association on Intellectual Disabilities
IDA Member connection: African Disability Forum (ADF)
Duration of Fellowship: October 2018 - March 2019
Fellowship Objectives: Mihret was an African Disability Forum (ADF) Office Fellow. The purpose of the Fellowship Program was to strengthen the ADF Office and support its member DPOs in Africa.
During her fellowship, Mihret supported ADF member DPOs in Africa by offering her experience in national and regional level policy and legislative development, advocacy, and program development. She provided training presentations on different topics such as the SDGs, the CRPD, data disaggregation, and inclusive development. She also supported document writing, such as a concept note on awareness raising on the African Union Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa. She has been working closely with the national CRPD Committee and providing technical support as required. Additionally, she is working with the National Election Board of Ethiopia on the inclusion of Person with Disability in the upcoming National Election in 2020/21. Mihret is also a member of the National Inclusive Education Forum established by the State Minister of Education.
Mihret also participated in the Module 1 and 2 of the BRIDGE CRPD-SDG training for English-speaking countries from Eastern-Western Africa.
Mihret highlighted that, "The fellowship has helped me to better understand the regional level DPO movement including strengthening the movement, gaps and opportunities. This experience is very important for my leadership role within DPOs. It has helped me to have closer linkages with the SDGs and CRPD. It creates great connections with different regional and global level stakeholders."
Mihret sees the fellowship programme as a perfect opportunity to create a learning agenda that is flexible and specific to her individual professional interests, roles and needs.
Full Name: Emmanuelle Flaure Virginie Tchotchom
Country of Origin: Cameroon
Organization: African Disability Forum (ADF)
Duration of Fellowship: June 2019 – March 2020
Fellowship Objectives: The purpose of the Fellowship Position was to strengthen the ADF Office and support its member DPOs in Africa.
Emmanuelle’s main role as a Fellow was to support the Central African DPOs who are members of ADF. She supported DPOs in their activities related to CRPD advocacy, and national efforts to integrate disability issues into SDGs. Emmanuelle represented Central African DPOs in several important events, including:
- The World Conference on Women’s Rights in November 2019,
- The Pan African Conference on the Rights of Women with Disability in June 2019
- The sub-regional workshop of Central and west Africa concerning the protocol of the African Charter of human and people’s right on the rights of persons with disabilities in September 2019
- The disabled women Forum of Central Africa in December 2019
- The meeting of DPOs leaders from Central Africa in February 2020
At the request of the Central Africa Federation of Persons with Disabilities (CAFOD) Chairman, Emmanuelle provided technical support to CAFOD DPOs to elaborate their action plans and to mobilize different development actors in order to promote inclusive local development which will change the living conditions of people’s with disabilities.
"This fellowship allowed me to familiarize myself with the vision and mission of ADF in Africa in general and for Central Africa in particular and secondly, I have improved my abilities and my techniques of collaboration with the great leaders of Central African DPOs", said Emmanuelle, who also acknowledges that "the practice of good communication between fellow and all stakeholders" is essential for a successful fellowship.
The availability of the fellow in the Central Africa Region helped ADF to make sure that there was a continuous flow of information between the Regional DPO and its members. Continuous engagement will bring in different partners that work in the region to invest more in to support for organizational structures to strengthen both national and regional networks. Having a focal person in each region in Africa would be a way of active engagement for the regional actors. ADF will explore how to sustain this as part of its internal communication strategy.
Full Name: George Khoury
Country of Origin: Lebanon
Organization: Arab Organization of Persons with Disabilities (AOPD)
Duration of Fellowship: 1 November 2018 – 31 December 2019
Fellowship Objectives: Quantitative and qualitative measure of the implementation of laws on the rights of persons with disabilities in different Arab countries, and their CRPD compatibility.
Through the fellowship George supported the review of the national laws, policies, and strategies of different Arab countries. He participated in the preparation of the Arab Regional Disability Report, which covers ten Arab MENA countries (Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, the State of Palestine, Sudan, Tunisia). He also helped in producing parts of a few AOPD short documents on advocacy.
George was delegated by the host organization to attend the Arab Forum on Sustainable Development held at the ESCWA headquarters in Beirut, from 9 to 11 April, 2019. He was also chosen to attend the first week of the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) and participate as the lead discusser during the first plenary session of the Forum, on July 9, 2019. After his participation at the HLPF, George received an invitation to talk during the General Assembly of the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation in Washington D.C. in August 2019.
During his fellowship, George supported the drafting and editing of awareness raising booklets that were emphasizing certain points on the local laws and CRPD, showing their level of consistency with the CRPD. He also participated in the Bridge CRPD-SDGs training workshops, and contributed by summarizing its content in Arabic. These summaries became basic resource materials for Arab DPOs who were not able to attend the Bridge CRPD-SDGs training in the MENA region.
"I felt that my fellowship has broadened my horizons as regards grasping further and better the needs and rights of persons with other disabilities, and how to try to widen the scope of making laws, policies and programs more CRPD compatible. My participation in the Bridge courses gave me a practical sense and awareness of arranging reasonable accommodations, and to prepare the necessary conditions of accessibility."
The added value of the fellowship on the host, AOPD has been the increased collection of evidence from around the region which has been turned into a regional SDGs report from a CRPD perspective, which will be used as a key advocacy tool by multiple countries. Furthermore, the presence of the fellow has enhanced AOPD’s communication with members and provided information on their priorities and concerns.
Full Name: George Basil Okudi
Country of Origin: Uganda
Organization: Down Syndrome International (DSi)
Duration of Fellowship: 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020
Fellowship Objectives: Supporting DSi with delivering its self-advocacy training in Nigeria, working in partnership with DSi and the African Down Syndrome Network (ADSN) to train ADSN’s national member DPOs on the CRPD and inclusive development, providing support to ADSN’s Project Coordinator with implementing ARADI project.
During his fellowship, George was supporting DSi’s self-advocacy training with Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria, in Lagos, June 2019, where he played an active role in the training. His knowledge on the CRPD and insights into being a self-advocate were particularly valuable for the participants.
In October 2019, George supported DSi's member organisation Pearl of People with Down Syndrome Foundation (PPDSF) in Tanzania in their advocacy activities and lobbying with Tanzanian government officials. George raised awareness about Down syndrome during the meetings with officials from departments including: the Prime Minister's Office for Persons with Disabilities; the Department of Social Welfare; the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology; and the Ministry of Health.
George was also supporting another self-advocate with Down syndrome in January 2020, who participated in the Module 2 of the Bridge CRPD-SDG training in Tanzania.
George has been writing a blog on human rights of people with Down syndrome, where he interviews people with Down syndrome about their lives, with a focus on a different CRPD article in each post. His blog has been showcased on DSi’s website to raise awareness about the human rights issues that people with Down syndrome commonly face. Please click here to view George's blog.
George indicates the following about the fellowship position, "It has been a good time of learning, gaining experience and putting it into practice especially while using and referring to the CRPD. The trainings have played a great part in building my life in many aspects; being a co-facilitator in front of many people is no longer a problem and presenting what is expected from me is now easy… and the ability to get information without fear has been developed.”
Full Name: Jaime Cruz Juscamaita
Country of Origin: Peru
Organization: Sociedad Peruana De Síndrome Down
IDA Member Connection: Inclusion International (II)
Duration of Fellowship: December 2018 - November 2019
Fellowship Objectives: The objective of this fellowship was to support the work of Empower Us¸ Inclusion International’s global programme to support building self-advocacy for change around the world, with a focus of Jaime's work being on Latin America.
Jaime’s contribution played a big part in the success of the Empower Us work in the Americas. One of his first successes in his role was to create a very useful video in Spanish explaining what Inclusion International and Empower Us are.
His enthusiasm and commitment in supporting other self-advocates to develop advocacy skills and to understand more about the CRPD and SDGs ensured that the regional training that Jaime was a part of leading were impactful for everyone involved.
Jaime participated in a workshop (Cochabamba, Bolivia) to review a draft of the Latin American Regional Report about the implementation of the SDGs under the perspective of the CRPD. Jaime felt his role in this event was particularly important as people with intellectual disabilities’ perspectives were not included in the draft report.
Jaime was a plenary speaker at a Roundtable session on the second day of 12th session of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD in New York in June 2019. He spoke about inclusion through participation in cultural life, sport and leisure. Click here to view Jaime’s presentation at COSP.
Jaime describes the fellowship as, "a different, new experience that let me know people from around the world. Now, I feel like I defend rights with more passion and knowledge than before. I know that people with an intellectual disability and Down Syndrome are not kids forever or little angels. We want to be treated like adults, like anyone else. It has been useful because it has prepared me to speak out in front of different people and be an activist. It has helped me to lose my fears of saying what I think. It has been one more step to being independent."
Jamie’s involvement at events throughout the year whilst speaking up about the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities and their families at a regional and international level also impacted the work of Inclusion International. He role modelled self-advocate leadership at key events, such as COSP, and raised the profile of Empower Us work.
Full Name: Rebecca Opetsi Alitsi
Country of Origin: Kenya
Organization: International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (IFSBH)
Duration of Fellowship: April 2017 - April 2018
Fellowship Objectives: Support for the Association of Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus of Tanzania (ASBAHT) and Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Kenya (SHAK) on the provision and implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
During her fellowship, Rebecca held a series of trainings and workshops in Tanzania and Kenya for youth and parents on the basic principles of the CRPD and SDGs. Workshop included, how to become self-advocate with the use of the CRPD and SDGs, and how these two mechanisms can promote access to education and health for children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. During IF's Biennial African Workshop in Mombasa, Kenya in 2017, Rebecca provided training on the CRPD and Agenda 2030, and how they can be used for claiming rights of persons with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. The workshop was attended by 90 participants from 17 countries.
Throughout the fellowship placement, Rebecca was publishing monthly articles on her blog http://opetsi.blogspot.com/, with an aim of lobbying and raising awareness on the rights of persons with spina bifida and hydrocephalus from the perspective of CRPD and SDGs.
Some of the key outcomes that Rebecca produced during her fellowship include: 12 monthly publications on awareness raising for inclusion of persons with spina bifida and hydrocephalus; World Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Day 2018 Toolkit which offers a set of guidelines for various stakeholders in the inclusion of persons with spina bifida and hydrocephalus in their communities.
"My fellowship from the International Disability Alliance (IDA) through International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (IF) was among the most rewarding experiences of my life. This was an opportunity to represent people with spina bifida and hydrocephalus not just from the Global South but globally. Through the international exposure I was able to participate in advocacy processes at international levels like the High Level Political Forum (HLPF). This has contributed towards new advocacy skills and visibility of spina bifida and hydrocephalus community. My involvement with the BRIDGE CRPD-SDG programme has continually developed my capacity building skills towards inclusive development of crosscutting organizations of persons with disabilities. This has also been beneficial to IF member organizations - Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Kenya (SHAK) and Association of Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus of Tanzania (ASBHAT)''.
Click here to check out the short video of Rebecca describing her fellowship experience.
The fellowship equipped Rebecca with inclusive training skills which allows her to focus on the needs of people with disabilities from a rights-based perspective. For Rebecca, key factors to ensure a successful fellowship include networking, effective communication, and learning from challenges and barriers.
Rebecca contributed to strengthening IF’s members and partners on local advocacy activities, in addition to training partners on the rights of persons with disabilities. As a further benefit, Rebecca will remain available to IF for future training of trainers, with a specific emphasis on youth with spina bifida and hydrocephalus.
Full Name: Mario Vladimir Puruncajas Cisneros
Country of origin: Ecuador
Organisation: The Latin American Network of Non-Governmental Organizations of Persons With Disabilities and their Families (RIADIS)
Duration of Fellowship: September 2019 - March 2020
Fellowship Objectives: Objectives of the fellowship were to strengthen DPOs and RIADIS’s use of UN or regional accountability mechanisms, in particular, supporting the process of producing national (Peru) and the regional Latin American SDG reports from a UN CRPD perspective and to increase linkage of RIADIS with the regional offices of the United Nations in order to address cross-cutting disability issues in the Region.
During his fellowship, Mario was in contact with UNHCR Regional Office, where he was actively participating in the mainstreaming of disability in the regional platform within the plan of response to refugees and migrants, linking the participation of Gabriel Soto (Director of the Southern Cone of RIADIS) as a focal point of RIADIS. Mario was also participating in the UNHCR Ecuador working groups of the plan of response to refugees and migrants in Ecuador. The outcome is a memorandum of understanding that is signed between the UNHCR Office in Ecuador and RIADIS to carry out a diagnosis of persons with disabilities in Ecuador and the services provided by key actors and UNHCR partners in humanitarian assistance.
Building on work of Jorge Enrique Muñoz Morales, one of Mario's objectives was to improve the accessibility of the RIADIS website, and online network of the Regional Observatory, including the website and social media platforms. Together with Rosario Galarza, he planned and organized three webinars with various critical topics for the region.
Key outcomes that were produced during Mario's fellowship are:
- Alternative reports for the CRPD Committee from El Salvador and Ecuador, which allowed the rights violations to be reflected in the Concluding Observations of the CRPD Committee.
- Recommendations to Improve Public Policies and the Delivery of Public Services for Persons with Disabilities Belonging to Minority and Indigenous Communities in Ecuador, which has raised awareness of the needs of indigenous persons with disabilities in Ecuador, and has presented several recommendations to the state.
- Support for the development of the RIADIS Strategic Plan, which will serve as a guide for future actions and RIADIS priorities to strengthen the participation of RIADIS member organizations and the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the region.
- Regional Statement on Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants, which calls on humanitarian service providers and governments to consider the situation of the migrant population with disabilities from Venezuela.
For Mario, the added value of his fellowship is the opportunity to develop more extensive relationship building and development of linkages with the United Nations Offices, which will lead further work to monitor mainstreaming of disability in their activities.
Full Name: Rosario Patricia Galarza Meza
Country of Origin: Peru
Organization: The Latin American Network of Non-Governmental Organizations of Persons With Disabilities and their Families (RIADIS)
Duration of Fellowship: March 2017 - March 2020
Fellowship Objective: Providing technical assistance to DPOs and increasing capacity building for RIADIS
"The knowledge and experience I acquired in the Bridge CRPD-SDGs Training of Trainers and as a facilitator in different workshops for indigenous persons with disabilities has enabled me to know more about inclusive facilitation and reasonable accommodations for all disability constituencies, and how to use this knowledge to prepare accessible materials and improve my presentations for future trainings and workshops. Additionally, the experience I acquired as a fellow, allowed me to coordinate and elaborate the RIADIS SDG regional report in 2019."
Rosario has extensive experience interpreting international instruments, including the CRPD, SDGs and other UN monitoring mechanisms, as well as a full understanding of issues related to diversity and inter-sectionality. During her fellowship, Rosario facilitated and presented at both national and regional workshops. She designed and conducted a regional workshop for indigenous people with disabilities from Latin America in Cuba in March 2018, which gathered indigenous leaders from Colombia, Guatemala, Bolivia, Mexico and Peru. She also designed and facilitated a workshop for indigenous persons with disabilities, jointly with Olga Montufar, co-chair of the Global Network of Indigenous Persons with Disabilities held in Guatemala in August, 2017. Rosario developed a series of webinars focused on the 2030 agenda jointly with the Latin American Union of the Blind and the World Blind Union.
Rosario was a delegate at high-level meetings such HLPF, while also supporting local DPOs within their disability advocacy processes. She was a representative speaker of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities at the Partners for Review event which took place in Bogota, Colombia in March 2017. Rosario also provided technical support to the VI RIADIS Latin American Conference which was held in Havana Cuba on March 2018.
Rosario has a diverse and comprehensive knowledge of disability issues, especially within Latin America, these include topics related to the CRPD, indigenous issues, women’s issues, and topics related to the implementation and monitoring of the SDGs.
In 2019, Rosario was appointed as focal point of the group of persons with disabilities for the civil society coordination mechanism of the Economic Commission for the Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
In that year, Rosario was in charge of the Spanish translation of the SDG regional report produced by RIADIS as well as the Spanish translation of the Peru SDG report elaborated by the Blind Women’s Commission of Peru – CODIP. She also collaborated with the review of the Spanish translation of the EDF advocacy report and with the review of the IASC guidelines.
Additionally, she supported the elaboration of the RIADIS strategic framework based in four pillars:
- Institutional strengthening of grassroots organizations
- Positioning and visibility of RIADIS and its mission in Latin America
- RIADIS sustainability
- Observatory and Research.
Full Name: Jorge Enrique Muñoz Morales
Country of Origin: Colombia
Organization: The Latin American Network of Non-Governmental Organizations of Persons With Disabilities and their Families (RIADIS)
Duration of Fellowship: February - June 2019
Fellowship Objectives: Accessibility verification of the official website of the Global Disability Summit Argentina 2019 and redesign of RIADIS website.
During his fellowship, Jorge was in charge of evaluation and assessment of platforms, which host virtual courses. He also supported the accessibility verification of the official website of the Global Disability Summit Argentina 2019 and redesign of RIADIS website, to the standard of accessibility levels A and AA. Jorge produced an evaluation summary with 38 items representing AA level compliance of the websites and their contents, which can serve as a guide to monitor the accessibility of the RIADIS website.
Jorge created an observatory webpage with accessibility levels A and AA, which hosts resources and information, such as good practices, for the implementation of the CRPD and the SDGs. The observatory's website is included in the main menu of the RIADIS website: http://www.riadis.org/observatorioregional/.
Added value for RIADIS as host organization is gaining an accessible format which will be a central website for the region, giving access to both RIADIS members and the general public. The construction of the observatory webpage is an important step for empowering RIADIS members and other organizations to engage in advocacy activities and promote the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Full name: Jessica Kashia Jacobie
Country of Origin: Saint Lucia
Organisation: World Blind Union (WBU)
Duration of Fellowship: December 2018 to March 2020
Fellowship Objectives: The main focus of Jessica’s fellowship was to strengthen WBU’s work in the Caribbean, and to advocate internationally for the rights of persons with disabilities by encouraging the ratification and implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and ensuring that they remain on governments’ agenda as they strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs].
Through Jessica working closely with the president of the North American Caribbean region WBU’s membership in the Caribbean has increased from two to seven and is expected to continue to grow. Jessica carried out presentations to promote state ratifications of the UNCRPD and the Marrakesh Treaty during WBU’s North American Caribbean regional meeting in Trinidad in May 2019. The aim of this presentation was to encourage DPOs from countries that have ratified the UNCRPD to follow up on implementation, and to consider producing alternative reports and to lobby for the inclusion of disability as part of their government’s agenda in meeting the SDGs.
Internationally, she supported Kenya in the preparation of their 2019-2020 alternative report, aligning the UNCRPD with the SDGs. Jessica also supported Kenya and Uganda on projects funded by CBM on disaster risk reduction and national disability data collection (using the Washington group of questions), She began work on a WBU Helpdesk which she referred to as a global advocacy support system to allow members access to material on WBU’s focus areas. Jessica added value to WBU’s communication and dissemination activities by developing communiques for publication by WBU and its members for internationally recognized thematic days along with contributing to quarterly publications.
Jessica indicated that, “through working with WBU’s CEO and team, members, consultants and other stakeholders, this fellowship has been an opportunity to further develop myself personally and professionally. It has been an avenue to learn new skills, build relationships and open doors to fuel my desire and better my chances of living my dream of advocating locally, regionally and internationally to ensure that persons with disabilities, especially those who are blind or partially sighted are aware of and are not deprived of the human rights that we are all entitled too. Coming from the Caribbean, a region that is mostly marginalized and is not often afforded the privilege of receiving funding to support fellowships and projects such as what was offered to me by IDA and WBU. My aim is to encourage and support members to use the foundation that has been laid to explore avenues to help us develop and implement more projects, build capacity, and strengthen our voice internationally.”
Jessica believes that a successful fellowship is dependent on the fellow’s level of commitment and interest, his/her willingness to learn and to be challenged, and the support and guidance of the organization to which the fellow is attached.
Full name: Daniel Andreas Ocampo Arias
Country of Origin: Colombia
Organization: World Federation of the Deaf (WFD)
Duration of Fellowship: March 2017 - April 2018
Fellowship Objectives: Strengthening of WFD’s capacity to provide technical assistance to its members in the form of information, guidance and support using International Sign Language.
During his fellowship, Daniel developed an accessible video toolkit “Complete the Puzzle: Connecting the Deaf Community with the CRPD and SDGs” in International Sign based on existing CRPD and SDG materials. The toolkit has been produced and accessible by clicking here.
Daniel stated, "I appreciated the opportunity to attend the High-level Political Forum and WFD Conference for the first time to learn more about international processes and events. When collecting and analyzing information for the toolkit I deepened my knowledge about the CRPD and SDGs. I believe that all these experiences have enhanced my skills for future work at local, national, regional and international levels."
Besides the guidance and support of WFD, Daniel indicates the following as key factors for a successful fellowship, "attending international events and meeting people from different countries there provided me an insight into their views of the toolkit and their styles of International Sign, which I have been able to take into account when producing the toolkit."
Added value of the fellowship for WFD is the empowerment of a deaf leader from the Global South, with the knowledge of South American context, to acquire a global view on human rights issues of the deaf. Through Daniel’s participation in the Expert Group meeting on the SDGs in Colombia in March 2017, the High-level Political Forum in July 2017 and piloting the toolkit at the WFD Conference in Hungary in November 2017, the WFD was able to provide him with new experience on learning about international processes at the UN system and WFD.
Full name: Ximena Serpa
Country of origin: Colombia
Organization: World Federation of the Deafblind (WFDB)
Duration of fellowship: May 2017 - October 2018
Fellowship Objective: Support to WFDB Secretariat
Beside many tasks and activities, Ximena supported the development of the WFDB Global report on deafblindness, as well as contributing to the preparations of important events such as the Helen Keller 2018 World Conference in Benidorm, Spain. She also coordinated with IDA to ensure the successful inclusion of WFDB members, persons with deafblindness, in the Bridge CRPD-SDGs training initiative and other IDA activities. Ximena also supported the WFDB presence and participation at the IDDC meeting at Hurdal, Norway, 2017.
"It has been a wonderful experience to work with WFDB, mainly with Geir Jensen as a boss. I learnt a lot and was able to use all my knowledge and experiences in the field of deafblindness."
Ximena indicates that in order to have a successful fellowship it is important, "to know that you are valued as an experienced professional, to have clear goals and tasks and to be able to travel any time and be where you need to be."