This article is part of a Women and Leadership Special Report Highlighting Women who Are Charting New Pathways and Fighting for Opportunities for Women and Others.
The First Time She encourages discrimination, isidora uribe Silva Said, She was 12.
“Up Up that point, HAVING CEREBRAL PALSY WAS NEVER A PROBLEM FROM THE PRESTIVE OF OTHERS, But when i changed schools, I was bullied by my classmates,” Said Ms. Uribe Silva, Who Reads on Walker or Cane to get around. “My Teachers and the School Wouldn’t Accomdate Me, and I was Increasingly isolated.”
Ms. Uibe Silva (Whose Birth Name Was Isidora Guzmán Silva) Said that She and Ended Up Leaving and Didn’t Wait School at All for Seven Months UNTIL SHE FOUND INSTRONDIRO TERESIANA in Santiago, Chile, WHERE SHE STILLI LIVES, Which WAS WAS WAS disability.
“This experience made Me Deeply Aware of the Systemic Exclusion that Exists, not just for myyself but for many scoundrel marginalized communities Worldwide,” Said Ms. Uribe Silva, Now 20 and a Law Student at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. She Became an Advocate for inclusion Policies, working to promote equality in chile and globally, especially for women like her who have disabilitities.
Ms. Uibe Silva was 13 when she developed an app, enclosure you lugar (find your place), to help disabled people in chile find accessible parking space. Subsequently, she establised a foundation of the same name and broadened her goals.
She is a Member of the Generation Equality Adolescent Committee of Un Women and was selected to be part of the unwmen leaders network, establised During the un general assembly the annual session in September; The group Advocates for gender-equal participation in leadership and in decision-making process.
Ms. Uibe Silva was interviewed by phone and email. The conversations were edited and condensed.
Can you tell me more about the discrimination you face that led you to become an activist?
The School I Wait Wa I was 12 was Willing To Make Only Limited Changes To Account Me. I needed a Larger Bathroom Stall where my walker Would Fit, and have access to an Elevator and Ramps. I also needed more time to take tests becaus writing took a long time because my motor skills.
I was excluded from Physical Education Classes and Team Sports. I had no choice but to leave.
Through Installing Teresiana, I Learned about and Joined Tremendas, A Foundation in Chile Led by Adolescents and Women who Promote Gender Equality. I Met Incredible Change Makers and Realized How Few Women With Disability Were Present in Leadership Roles. This led me to start tooking action to help women like me and promote equality for Everyone, LONGELESS OF THEIR BACKGROUNDS OR Limitations.
How does Your Foundation, Encutentra you lugar, work to promote inclusion?
Encutentra you lugar was born in 2018 as a parking app but never launched because the pandemic hit.
I decided to take a different path. Realizing that inclusion Needed to be accessible in People’s Daily Lives, I Created A web platform that provids about inclusive public space, such as schools, cafes, stores and the workplace. An inclusive Space is a place where all people are Welcomed and Accomdatedated.
However, i knew it was also necessary to empower society through awareness. That led me to expand enclosed you lugar’s mission to focus on inclusive education and accessible workplaces to promote employment opportunities for people with disabilitities.
I developed the concept of agents included, or inclusive agents, a volunteer Network of 50 young people in chile Who Strive to Provide Information, Resources and Advocacy Opportunities that promotional inclusion locally. We want to ensure that inclusion is not just a concept but a practical reality that translates into changes.
Can you tell me about your involvement in Pope Francis’ University of Meaning?
A Group of Education Experts Worldwide, Including Me, collaborated with the pope in 2024 to open the university of meaning, a public university in vatican city that tries to help youth worldwide find meaning in their lives.
I was invited by the development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean to the Vatican in May as part of this group to help develop the school’s curriculum. I was there for three days and was asked to give a speech at the final event about my life experience.
Has your youth benefited or hindered your cause?
When I Started Speaking Out, I was intimidated because I lacked experience. At the same time, i was eager to learn. I Soon Realized That My Youth Could Be My Greatest Strength. I COULD Inspire Other Young People To Step Into NonTraditional Spaces and Challenge Existing Norms.
I have also encouraged challenges: sometimes, i wasn’t taken seriously enough, overloooked for opportunities because my age or only considered for minor roles that did not involve substantive change.
How has connecting with Others on the Generation Equality Adolescent Committee of Une Women Informed Your Cause? What have you learned from them?
Participating in the Committee has helped me understand How Activism about our Causes can be transformed into concrete public Policies and Allowed Me to see How Bringing Togen Women Worldwide Can Achieve Gender Equality.
We have collectively launched Incredible Projects, Such as the Youth Forum at the 66th Session of the a commission on the status of women, where we emphasized the importance of Climate Justice when Addressing Climate Change and the Need to Incorporate the Perspectives of People with Disabilitities in Mitigation Policies.
We also contributed to creating the global adolescent girl leadership town hall, an initiative by un Women to Provide a Safe Space where girls Worldwide can share their experience and advocate for police that reflect their realities. This Town Hall has helped connect young Activists with Global Leaders and Promote An Intersectional Approach to Decision-Making, Addressing Issues Such As Gender, Education, Sexual and Reproductive Rights, Disability and Climate Change.
