Caroline Atim, a 2012 alumna of the Women’s Institute on Leadership and Disability (WILD), is a leading voice for the rights and inclusion of women and girls with disabilities in South Sudan. Drawing on the confidence, skills, and global network she gained through WILD, Caroline has been determined to make change in her community and throughout Africa.
After returning home, she established the South Sudan Women with Disabilities Network (SSWDN), a national, women-led organization advancing disability rights, providing counseling and community education programs, and engaging policymakers. The Network provides women with disabilities with one voice to advocate for their rights as equal citizens of South Sudan.
Caroline’s leadership has helped secure meaningful representation for women with disabilities in post-conflict reconstruction, most notably advocating for affirmative action in the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS), which guarantees that at least 35% of political appointees are women, including women with disabilities. This work contributed to the historic appointment of a woman with a disability to South Sudan’s central state parliament.
Caroline’s impact also extends across Africa. She recently briefed the United Nations Security Council, spotlighting the rights of women and girls with disabilities, especially survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. Due to multiple intersections of identities and discrimination, women and girls with disabilities are up to 10 times more likely than nondisabled women to experience sexual and gender-based violence.
She also collaborates with the Global Network of Refugees with Disabilities, an international NGO under the guidance of the UNHCR, to support refugee women across the region, and was recognized for her outstanding work by Women’s Refugee Commission as a “Voices of Courage” Honoree in 2013.
Reflecting on her path, Caroline shares:
“Women and girls with disabilities in South Sudan have the capacity to influence the development of our new country. My dream is to become a lawyer.”
We are proud to call Caroline a WILD sister. As she exemplifies, extraordinary things are possible when women with disabilities are leading the way!