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Lizzie Kiama

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Lizzie Kiama at the World Bank, New York

Lizzie Kiama is a Kenyan disability rights activist. She is the founder and managing trustee of This Ability Trust, a Kenyan disability rights organization.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Kiama is from Mombasa and was the first born of four children.[3] She has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the United States International University.[4]

At the age of 18, Kiama was injured in a car crash, which resulted in a physical disability.[2][5][6] Complications while giving birth a few years later resulted in her disability becoming permanent.[5]

Career

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Kiama founded This Ability Trust, in 2012, to support companies with inclusion of people with disabilities and to empower women and girls with disabilities, and to promote rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.[5][7]

In 2016 Kiama coordinated national advocacy efforts towards advancing sexual reproductive health rights of women and girls with disabilities in Kenya using the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which received specific recommendations on the rights of women and girls with disabilities in the Concluding Observations to the State report.[8] In 2018, as the director of gender and disability at This Ability, she was one of several activists chosen to attend the 62nd session of the Commission for the Status of Women (CSW).[9]

In 2019, This Ability organized a side event on the sexual reproductive health rights of women and girls with disabilities in Africa under the auspices of the ICPD+25 Nairobi Summit and contributed to SRHM article “Actions, not words: progress since ICPD on disability and SRHR”.[10][11]

As a panelist during a 2020 webinar related to sexual and reproductive health and rights during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kiama discussed the impacts of the pandemic on access to essential services for the disability community.[12] In 2021, she was a contributor to a UNFPA report, "My body is my own: Claiming the right to autonomy and self-determination."[7][13] In April 2021, with support from UNFPA, This Ability established a confidential toll-free service for women with disabilities seeking sexual and reproductive health services, known as Mama Siri.[14][15]

Kiama is an Ashoka fellow.[16]

Family

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Kiama is married and has one daughter.[4]

References

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  1. ^ ""We have sexual desires, too": Young women with disabilities demand access to information and services". United Nations Population Fund. 3 Dec 2019. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  2. ^ a b "Kenya: Against All Odds - the Abilities of Women With Disabilities". allAfrica.com. 2021-06-06. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  3. ^ "Lizzie Kiama". Global Sports Mentoring. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  4. ^ a b Lustig, Hannah (2014-11-02). "LIZZIE KIAMA CHANGES PERCEPTIONS OF DISABILITY IN KENYA". This Ability. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  5. ^ a b c "Ensuring equal rights for women with disabilities through sport | sportanddev.org". www.sportanddev.org. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  6. ^ "This Ability". African Visionary Fund. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
  7. ^ a b Muchangi, John (April 15, 2021). "Millions of Kenyan women lack power to refuse sex — UNFPA". The Star. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  8. ^ "CEDAW/C/KEN/CO/8: Concluding observations on the eighth periodic report of Kenya". www.ohchr.org/. 22 November 2017.
  9. ^ Ochiel, Linda (July 11, 2018). "What we learned from a delegation of disabled women activists". Ford Foundation. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  10. ^ Shakespeare, Tom; Hameed, Shaffa; Kiama, Lizzie (2019-01-01). "Actions, not words: progress since ICPD on disability and SRHR". Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters. 27 (1): 340–342. doi:10.1080/26410397.2019.1676512. ISSN 2641-0397. PMC 7887953. PMID 31699017.
  11. ^ "Forum on SRHR and Disability during the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 < SRHM". SRHM. 2019-11-18. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  12. ^ MacKinnon, Jessica; Bremshey, Alexane (2020-01-01). "Perspectives from a webinar: COVID-19 and sexual and reproductive health and rights". Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters. 28 (1): 1763578. doi:10.1080/26410397.2020.1763578. PMC 7888038. PMID 32354272.
  13. ^ Heinrichs, Audra (23 June 2021). "THIS-ABILITY IS DEMANDING ACCESSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY FOR DISABLED COMMUNITIES". Mission. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  14. ^ Waweru, Muthoni (December 9, 2021). "Kenya: Toll Free Service Launched to Help Women With Disabilities Fight GBV". CapitalFM. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  15. ^ "Mama Siri – This Ability". www.this-ability.org. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  16. ^ "Lizzie Kiama | Ashoka | Everyone a Changemaker". www.ashoka.org. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
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