We organised Spotlight- A media workshop – in collaboration with the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities GOI, Office of State Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Goa, UN in India and UN Women on September 22, 2025 at the We The Peoples Hall, UN House, Delhi. Over 50 media and communication professionals participated in and attended this half day event which comprised of the media workshop and was followed by panel discussion with media professionals, and press interaction with ministers and heads of UN.
The Spotlight workshop, aimed to work with journalists to tell deeper, more inclusive and authentic stories that reflect the diverse voices and lived realities of persons with disabilities. The workshop covered the importance of using inclusive and accurate language, avoiding harmful stereotypes and reinforcement of stigmatised ideas, and understanding the diverse experiences of persons with disabilities. It also highlighted the need for intersectional reporting that is both gender-responsive and disability-inclusive, recognising specific experiences which are unique to women and gender marginalised persons with disabilities.
The workshop was followed by an insightful panel with Uzmi Athar, Press Trust of India, Bhanupriya Rao, Behen Box, Pooja Pande, Khabar Leheriya, and Parvinder Singh, UNWFP as speakers.
The final segment of the event was a press interaction facilitated by our founder and executive director Rising Flame, and with Mr. Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator, India, Shri Taha Haaziq, Secretary, Office of the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Goa, Ms. Richa Shanker, Deputy Director General, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry
of Social Justice and Empowerment Government of India, and the Honourable Minister, Shri Subhash Phal Desai, Minister of Social Welfare, State Government of Goa. They shared their vision from the International Purple Fest and called on the media to join the movement and influence society.
Read press coverage from the event: Press Information Bureau of India, Jagran
