Milestones: On Receiving the ‘Best Professional: Advocating for Inclusive Development for Persons with Disabilities’ Award
Elated to share that I was presented with an award on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, at the celebratory event “Ek Shaam Divyanjanon Ke Naam” program held on the 2nd of December 2024 in Ranchi (Jharkhand, India), co-organized by Sightsavers India; Divyang Adhikar Manch; and Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS), Rural Development Department, Government of Jharkhand. The Sangyan was one of the supporting partners for the event.
The award felicitation ceremony was organized by Sightsavers Jharkhand in collaboration with the Jharkhand Disability Alliance, which is committed to empowering persons with disabilities in the state. The event witnessed the august gathering of the State Disability Commissioner (In-charge) of Jharkhand; the District Social Welfare Officer, Ranchi; the Chief Operating Officer of Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS), Rural Development Department, Government of Jharkhand; Assistant Director of National Career Service Centre for Differently Abled, Ranchi; and Members from the Lower Judiciary, among representatives from other concerned public authorities and relevant stakeholders. I thank the organizing team for curating and facilitating the whole process (especially, Shri Ajit Kumar Ji of Divyang Adhikar Manch).
I was facilitated under the award category of the ‘Best Professional: Advocating for Inclusive Development for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)’. I extend my gratitude to the expert panel of jury members for recognizing my contributions to promoting disability rights and inclusion through my research, advocacy, and campaign endeavours concerning the Intersectionality of Climate Change and Disability, Inclusive Laws and Policies, and Universal Accessibility, among other intersectional interventions across dimensions of sustainable development goals.
Going ahead, I look forward to continuing working towards disability-led development, inclusive law and policy formulations and implementations, universal accessibility, and inclusive climate action and disaster risk reduction as much more needs to be done than what has been done to achieve intergenerational climate justice and equity.
Author —
~ Adv. Abhishek Kumar, Founder and Curator — The Sangyan [https://linktr.ee/sangyan]
Award Citation —
Adv. Abhishek Kumar, from Ranchi, Jharkhand (India) is a National Law University Delhi graduate and Bar Council of Delhi registered Advocate, who founded ‘The Sangyan’ that works on the intersectionality of Law, Environment (Sustainability) and Inclusion (Disability). He’s a person with disability (visual impairment — low vision) and a member of the National Disability Network (India). As the NCPEDP-Javed Abidi Fellow on Disability (2021–2024), he pursued data-driven and evidence-based research, advocacy and campaign endeavours to address climate change’s multi-order and disproportionate impacts on persons with disability and collaborated with UN India, UNICEF NYHQ, UN Women India, G20 India and Brazil, UN CSW, UNESCO MGIEP, Jindal Global University, and other national and international forums and organizations to advocate for inclusive climate action.
Abhishek represented India at the 18th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation in Tanzania and the G20 Brazil Youth Pre-Summit 2024 in Brazil. His contributions to disability inclusion include inputs to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment №26 and the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ General Comment on Persons with Disabilities in Risky Situations which were duly acknowledged and included in the documents. He co-drafted the ‘Charter of Demands: Call to Action for Disability Justice’ and co-curates the “Ink For Inclusion” Initiative and ‘Bharat Bhagya Vidhata’ Campaign towards achieving a sustainable, climate-resilient, universally accessible, and inclusive election as well as India. He co-authored an article on ‘Climate-Resilient and Accessible Architecture’ for the Harvard Law School Project on Disability and penned “We Need a Disability-led Climate Action” for UNICEF’s Voices of Youth.
Abhishek is the recipient of the 15th NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Award, 2024 and Diversability’s 5th Annual 2024 D-30 Disability Impact List Honoree. He’s also curating the ‘Build Forward Better’ Campaign addressing the ‘Common Concerns of Humankind’ by ‘Building Forward Better’ (sustainability and climate-resilience) where ‘We All Belong’ (inclusion and universal accessibility). He has also contributed to the ‘Finding Sizes For All: A Report on the Status of the Right to Accessibility in India’ by the Centre for Disability Studies, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad by conducting accessibility audits of sports facilities in Ranchi. His other major interventions include contributions to the UN India’s Disability Inclusion Strategy and the Supreme Court of India’s comprehensive ‘Handbook Concerning Persons with Disabilities’.
Media Coverage —
दिव्यांगों के लिए कार्य कर रही संस्था सम्मानित (Title of the News Article). “दिव्यांग पेशेवर के तौर पर अरुण करकेट्टा, ऐडवोकेट अभिषेक कुमार, माधव चंद्र दास को सम्मानित किया गया।” (Quote from the News Article) Newspaper Clipping from Prabhat Khabar [Ranchi City Edition — 03rd of December 2024] https://epaper.prabhatkhabar.com/ranchi/ranchi-city/2024-12-03/12
Image/Visual Description [Alt Text] —
On a white background, there’s a collage of three pictures — (1) Adv Abhishek posing with the plaque award with the event flex standee in the background; (2) Image of honourable guests facilitating Adv Abhishek Kumar with the plaque award at the dias; and (3) Media Coverage: “दिव्यांगों के लिए कार्य कर रही संस्था सम्मानित” (Title of the News Article). “दिव्यांग पेशेवर के तौर पर अरुण करकेट्टा, ऐडवोकेट अभिषेक कुमार, माधव चंद्र दास को सम्मानित किया गया।” (Quote from the News Article) Newspaper Clipping from Prabhat Khabar [Ranchi City Edition — 03rd of December 2024, https://epaper.prabhatkhabar.com/ranchi/ranchi-city/2024-12-03/12]
Additionally the following texts below the image — “‘Best Professional: Advocating for Inclusive Development for PwDs’ for Research, Advocacy and Campaign Efforts on the Intersectionality of Climate Change & Disability, Inclusive Law & Policy, and Universal Accessibility.”
Hashtags —
#DisabilityLeadership #YouthWithDisabilities #UnitedInAction #BuildForwardBetter #WeAllBelong #InkForInclusion #CharterOfDemands #RightToAccessibility #AccessibilityIsFreedom #DisabilityRights #VernacularArchitecture #AccessibilityAudit #UNCRPD #Sustainability #Inclusion #LeaveNoOneBehind #NothingWithoutUs #UniversalAccessibility #ReasonableAccommodation #UniversalDesign #AccessibilityAnxiety #ClimateAnxiety #EcoAnxiety #EarlyWarningSystem #BuiltEnvironment #DigitalAccessibility #TransportAccessibility #FourOrderImpacts #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #CommonConcernsOfHumankind #Research #Campaign #Advocacy
