The Winners of the Her Abilities Award
In March, we launched the Her Abilities Award along with our Senior Inclusion Advisor, Right Livelihood Award winner Yetnebersh Nigussie. Her Abilities is unique, much like the women it celebrates - it’s the first global award honouring the achievements of women with disabilities. The winners were decided by an influential jury of women with and without disabilities from different fields of life; from Mariam Doumbia, of blind musical duo Amadou & Mariam, to Judy Heumann, President Obama's first Special Advisor for International Disability Rights. After receiving hundreds of nominations from 52 countries around the globe, the high-profile panel chose three winners from Zambia, Bangladesh and Nigeria. The Award is split into three categories: Arts, Culture and Sport; Rights and Health and Education.
The winners
Arts, Culture and Sport
The winner in Arts, Culture and Sport is Zambian filmmaker and human rights activist Musola Cathrine Kaseketi. She is Zambia's first female professional film director, with a strong focus on work which addresses social issues affecting women with disabilities. As a young child, a medical error paralysed one of her legs giving her mobility difficulties. As such, she initially trained as a disability equality facilitator with the International Labour Organisation before moving onto film. Her first film, Suwi ("Faith"), which she wrote, directed and produced, was screened widely in Africa as well as in several European countries, and was nominated for an Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Film.
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