Disability Rights Fund

DRF launched in 2008 to resource the shifting paradigm about disability from charity to rights. Through grantmaking, advocacy, and technical assistance, DRF supports organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Caribbean to use global rights and development frameworks—such as the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Sustainable Development Goals— to address inequality and achieve rights and inclusion.

DRF is committed to an intersectional approach, including addressing intersecting identities of gender, sexuality, race, indigeneity, and disability, and strongly believes that a successful disability rights movement must include leadership by people who are marginalized and underrepresented within the disability community. Not only are there unique challenges faced—such as limits on sexual and reproductive health and rights and higher incidence of violence—but there are unique opportunities for leadership.

Since 2008, DRF and its sister fund, the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund (DRAF), have supported over 400 OPDs across 39 countries to advance nearly 1,500 rights campaigns. We believe that by mobilizing technical, human, and financial resources to support OPDs, we are better positioning persons with disabilities to lead the disability rights movements in their local and national contexts, and to bring disability to the fore of intersectional global conversations.