Lydia la Riviere-Zijdel
My motivation to work voluntarily for DCDD has everything to do with my commitment to third world issues on the one hand and disability issues with a focus on the gender dimension on the other. Since I worked in Africa (Tanzania) in the early seventies I have stayed in contact with countries in Africa and Asia via several projects and within the UN context. I have never believed in a one way and top down approach. We have something to learn from our sisters and brothers in the third world and bring our knowledge with respect for their identity and long-term tradition. Only in this way we can build strong alliances.
I am born in the Netherlands in 1951 and active within the Women’s Movement since the early seventies and the Disability Movement since the early eighties (since a car-accident in 1982). An MA in social science (especially disability studies and social and community studies) at the University of Leeds and De Montfort University at Leicester gives me the academic foundation for my work. I further am a licensed self-defence and martial arts teacher (3rdDegree Black Belt in Karate) and have a longstanding professional career in various countries and (academic) institutions, among which: working (for 3 years) with women in Tanzania, at the University of Amsterdam and working on the issue of multiple identity (gender, disability, age, race) within various educational training centres and universities throughout Europe.
I am active both in practice with disabled people as in politics and science. Over the past 16 years I have taught more than 7,000 disabled people (mainly girls and women) self-defence, empowerment and mobility and survival trainings. Politically I am active in local, regional and national organisations and the past 12 years on European level. For four years I was the vice-president of Mobility International, and six years their executive committee member. Since 1994 I was an executive and board member of the European Disability Forum and from 1996-2002 the Chair of the EDF’s Standing Committee for disabled women’s and girls issues. For EDF, MI and currently the European Women’s Lobby, I am a member of the European Platform of Social NGO’s, Council of Europe, ILO, Intergroups at the EU parliament, High Level Group on Disability of the European Commission and participate into many projects, conferences and committees as an expert in relation to discrimination of and violence towards disabled people.
From 2002-2005 I was the President of the European Women’s Lobby and currently a board member and am actively involved in the Beijing Review, the UN convention on disability and other international and European issues in relation to (disabled) women. I am author of many articles and books related to (disabled) people’s issues (three Empowerment Manuals), women’s issues and discrimination and violence. I am frequently asked as speaker and trainer at international conferences on (disabled) women’s issues, a guest-lecturer at several European Universities and I have made guest appearances on numerous international television programmes, including leading German, UK, Austrian, Swiss, Turkish, Latvian and Dutch programmes (speaking Dutch, English, German, French and Swahili) and have appeared in several films about Karate and self-defence.
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