From Slums to Success: Why Funders Must Invest in Youth-Led Disability Organizations!
Youth-led Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) in Nigeria face significant barriers in accessing funds. Many grants demand extensive documentation, proof of past impact, and a track record that new organizations simply don’t have. The stigma around youth-led and disability-focused programs further complicates their efforts to secure support.
However, organizations like Disability Rights Fund are making a difference. DRF’s small grants to youth-led OPDs like ours have been crucial in strengthening our operational capacity and visibility. Through their support, we’ve been able to attract more funding and grow our impact. But what happens when DRF or similar funders don’t step in to support new organizations? Who helps build their capacity and give them the track record they need? Who will nurture the next generation of disability leaders?
Registering Hope Alive For Possibilities Initiative – HAPI and securing funding was incredibly difficult. However, Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) , led by David O. Anyaele, provided us with a critical opportunity. By inviting us to join the Coalition of Disability Organizations in implementing the Accessible Airport Project (funded by DRF), we gained the platform to lead and learn at the same time, an opportunity that many well-established OPDs in Nigeria rarely offer to emerging groups.
That experience was a game-changer. After our partnership with CCD, DRF funded HAPI directly, allowing us to implement our own projects as lead implementers. Since then, we have attracted additional funding from other organizations.
This success story is not just ours; it reflects the journey of many new OPDs that receive their first grants and go on to build strong, sustainable programs. Like HAPI, many other youth-led OPDs that received DRF’s small grants gained visibility, built credibility, and unlocked further funding opportunities.
I urge funders to prioritize youth-led disability organizations by providing the necessary resources to help them build the experience and track record they need to thrive. Just as DRF has supported us, we need more funders to invest in the growth of youth-led OPDs.
Together, we can ensure that marginalized organizations are resourced, visible, and empowered to create lasting change. A huge shout-out to DRF for resourcing marginalized organizations and to CCD for creating opportunities that help new OPDs thrive. Let’s keep building an inclusive movement that leaves no one behind!
Sightsavers
AmplifyChange
Ford Foundation
Voice of Disability Initiative – VDI
Advocacy for Women with Disabilities Initiative
