Asia Pacific Disability Network
The Asia Pacific Disability Network is a member-led platform connecting people with disabilities across Asia and the Pacific.We work together to advance rights, inclusion, and leadership, building a just and equitable future for our diverse communities.Our current focus is Women Deliver 2026 as a key moment for collective action.Our network creates space for collaboration, advocacy, and collective action, by and for people with disability.
Who we are
The Asia Pacific Disability Network is a member-led community dedicated to promoting the leadership, rights, and wellbeing of people with disability across a diversity of Asia and Pacific regions.We connect people across the region to share knowledge, build collective power, and drive rights-based advocacy.Our work is grounded in the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with a commitment to equity and self-determination.
Our mission
We are a dynamic, member-led network that connects people with disability across Asia and the Pacific regions to drive advocacy, leadership, and collective action.Through collaboration, we work to dismantle systemic barriers, promote gender equity, and advance health equity.
Our story
The Asia Pacific Disability Network evolved from a small group of people who co-authored the Asia Pacific Women with Disability Statement at the Women Deliver Conference in 2023. Link: https://wwda.org.au/our-resources/publication/women-deliver-oceanic-pacific-region-women-with-disabilities-statement/Our collaboration grew from a shared belief in the need for a member-led, rights-based movement driven by lived experience.While our founding group came together through Women Deliver, we are independent and not employees of Women Deliver.
Event
The Asia Pacific Disability Network is working towards Women Deliver 2026 as a key moment for collective action.Women Deliver 2026 will be held from 27–30 April 2026 in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. It will bring together advocates, organisations, and leaders working for gender equality, health, and rights.We see this as a critical opportunity to centre the leadership, rights, and experiences of people with disabilities in regional and global conversations.Our members will be:
- Travelling to Naarm-Melbourne to attend in person
- Joining the conference online
- Supporting from afar through advocacy and community activitiesTogether, we aim to:
- Amplify the voices of people with disability
- Influence policies and outcomes from the conference
- Strengthen disability inclusion across gender, health, and rights movementsFollowing Women Deliver we will reorganise for the next focus action.
Join
Our network is proudly led by, and for, people with disability.By joining the Asia Pacific Disability Network, you affirm that you are a person with disability, and commit to advancing rights, inclusion, intersectionality, self-determination, and solidarity across our communities.
Our shared commitments
Protect everyone’s rights: all people with disability deserve respect, opportunities and leadership roles.Work together: we will centre Indigenous leaders and support global movements with shared goals.Practice anti-discrimination: we will challenge discrimination and exclusion.Celebrate our varied backgrounds and perspectives: we will transform conflict to grow stronger movements together.Respect autonomy: everyone has the right to decide what happens to their own life, body and future.By becoming part of, and communicating within the network, members affirm these shared commitments.
Sign up
Request to join the Google Listserv at this link:
groups.google.com/g/asiapacificdisabilitynetwork
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