From grant recipient to movement funder: DIWA advances the leadership of women with disabilities

^{Relationships built through a UN Women Feminist Funders Dialogue helped connect DIWA’s expertise with long-term investment and regional partnerships.}

Before 2024, Disabled Women in Africa (DIWA) had never awarded grants to other organizations. It now reports providing grants to ten organizations in Malawi and Zambia, extending resources to the wider disability rights movement. For an organization that previously operated with annual expenditure below USD 30,000, this marks a significant expansion in its ability to support others.

DIWA’s growth reflects the value of recognizing women with disabilities as leaders in feminist movements and investing in the organizations they lead. A UN Women Feminist Funders Dialogue in Nairobi in 2024 helped open opportunities for relationships that, together with DIWA’s existing expertise and partnerships, supported this change.

Expertise without the resources to match
For more than two decades, DIWA has championed the rights and leadership of women and girls with disabilities across Africa. Yet its access to mainstream feminist networks and major funders remained limited. Its small secretariat worked from modest offices on the outskirts of Lilongwe, relying largely on short-term project grants.

This funding model constrained investment in staff development, governance, operational systems and long-term planning. The organization brought substantial knowledge of disability rights, but lacked the predictable resources needed to strengthen its institutional base and expand its regional work.

Relationships that opened space for long-term investment
The 2024 dialogue brought DIWA into direct conversation with feminist organizations, networks and funding partners, including the Black Feminist Fund, the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) and Urgent Action Fund. It created space for DIWA to share the priorities of women and girls with disabilities, demonstrate its expertise and build relationships as an equal partner.

According to DIWA, connections established and strengthened during and after the dialogue contributed to securing an eight-year flexible funding commitment worth USD 800,000 from the Black Feminist Fund. This long-term support enabled investment in governance, staffing, operational systems and resource mobilization, strengthening the organization beyond individual projects.

The engagement also helped build a partnership with Sonke Gender Justice, which recognized DIWA’s expertise in disability inclusion. Through their collaboration under the ACT to End Violence against Women Programme, supported by the European Union and UN Women, DIWA has contributed to strengthening the participation and leadership of women and girls with disabilities in efforts to end violence.

Extending resources to the wider movement
DIWA’s development also built on an existing partnership with the African Disability Forum. At the time of the dialogue, the two organizations were already collaborating on a pilot initiative to advance disability rights. Further support came through the SPADRA programme, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) through the African Disability Forum.

Under this programme, DIWA reports securing two years of funding and providing subgrants to ten organizations in Malawi and Zambia. Becoming a grant-making intermediary expanded DIWA’s role: it could support other organizations with resources as well as advocacy and technical expertise.
The financial figures show the scale of this institutional growth. DIWA reports that annual expenditure rose from less than USD 30,000 before 2024 to more than USD 480,000 in the 2025/2026 financial year. 

Alongside this expansion, it strengthened its governance, secretariat, financial management and operational systems.

Investing in leadership that was already there
DIWA’s progress has strengthened its capacity to support member organizations, engage regional and global policy processes, and bring the priorities of women and girls with disabilities into feminist and human rights spaces.

The dialogue was one contribution to a wider process driven by DIWA’s leadership, sustained relationship-building and investment from multiple partners. Its experience shows why meaningful inclusion must extend to decisions, partnerships and resources. When organizations of women with disabilities can access flexible funding and invest in their own priorities, they are better positioned to lead and strengthen the movements around them.
 

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