Vidhya Y represents India at ‘Disability Leadership Training in Digital Rights and Internet Governance’ in Bangladesh, Dhaka

Vidhya Y, one of the founding members of Vision Empower was invited as a Resource Person at the Consultation on Capacity building for People With Disabilities (PwDs) in Internet Governance organized by the Asia-Pacific School on Internet Governance (APSIG) in partnership with the Internet Society’s Accessibility Standing Group from 24th to 27th June 2022.

Founded in 2015, APSIG is the premier regional initiative that imparts capacity building in Internet Governance in the Asia-Pacific region. The Internet Society supports and promotes the development of the Internet as global technical infrastructure, a resource to enrich people’s lives, and a force for good in society.
The goals of this three-day workshop were to co-design an Internet Governance (IG) and accessibility course as well as build knowledge and advocacy skills in IG and accessibility for use in participants’ own countries and for regional impact.
Vidhya was invited to this special initiative with the objective of developing leadership within the PwDs communities and enabling them to participate in global, regional and national initiatives in IG. She represented India along with representatives from Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The three-day training comprised of sessions on advocacy and leadership skills, key accessibility policies, legislation and guidelines with a focus on Internet governance. There were also insightful talks on refugees with a disability, AI and accessibility, by renowned speakers. The participants indulged in reviewing ISOC Internet Governance course modules to co-design an Internet Governance (IG) and accessibility course as well as took part in workshops on Writing funding proposals and leadership techniques & exercises.

Vidhya participated in all activities and sessions conducted throughout the three-day workshop. She also shared about the work Vision Empower is doing in making STEM accessible for children with visual impairment.

The participants had a wonderful time learning and sharing ideas about accessibility, digital rights and Internet Governance.