CWF’s disability rights work is anchored in the belief that inclusion must be lived daily in classrooms, on stage, on the sports field and in public spaces, not just promised in policies.Our disability work spans inclusive arts, competitive sports, athlete development, large-scale advocacy events, and grassroots capacity building, reaching thousands of individuals across West Bengal every year.
CWF organised state-level sports events that provide competitive platforms for para-athletes while raising the visibility of disability sports across West Bengal.These events provided a medium to screen athletes for state level selection.We have screened 36 para-athletes for Bengal Paralympics.
In 2024–25, CWF was named a recipient of the Advancing Olympism365 Initiative jointly funded by the International Olympic Committee, Women Win, and Beyond Sports Foundation. In collaboration with Tarapur Social Development Society, Spriha Society, and Special Olympics Bharat West Bengal, this initiative aims to empower 1000 women with intellectual disabilities across 10 districts of West Bengal through structured sports training. The programme includes psychosocial sports modules, periodic health assessments, and gender-based violence awareness sessions.
A research pilot study with Santosh University(Delhi NCR) will track metabolic, hormonal, psychological, and genomic outcomes making this one of the most scientifically rigorous disability sports programmes in India.
The Walk for Paralympics is the only dedicated walk in the world raising awareness about Paralympic sports and the rights of para-athletes. Organised by CWF every year on or around August 28, it brings together citizens, students, para-athletes, lawyers, and activists for a public march demanding better infrastructure and opportunities. Key editions:
Mixed disability football was first introduced by CWF in 2019 drawing para-athletes from across the state's districts each time. The tournament serves not only as a competitive platform but also as a talent identification exercise to screen para-athletes for state team selection.
We in collaboration with Visually Impaired Cricket Association of Bengal oragnised a Blind Cricket match. Athletes across West Bengal participated in the match , this match also provided an awareness platform drawing media attention, community engagement around the rights of visually impaired athletes.
We organised various tournaments drawing para-athletes from across the state's districts each time. The tournament serves not only as a competitive platform but also as a talent identification exercise to screen para-athletes for state team selection.
CWF’s initiative enabled individuals,corporates and organizations to ‘adopt’ a para-athlete funding their training,equipment,nutrition,travels and participation cost.This initiative provided nearly 56 para-athletes with consistent, personalised support systems that allow them to focus entirely on their athletic goals.beyond financial assistance this initiative foster a deeper social connection.
CWF’s high energy music and cultural event that brought the world of live music and disability advocacy .This event raised awareness on how para-athletes in India often train with limited resources and receive far less public recognition than their able-bodied peers,despite demonstrating extraordinary resilience and skill.
CWF has organised Unified Sports Training programmes in collaboration with Special Olympics Bharat-West Bengal and the JR Foundation, engaging coaches and trainers and enabling 154 children including 67 with disabilities to participate in unified sports activities.
Organised in collaboration with Special Olympics Bharat to mark Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (India's 75th year of Independence). Provided health screening and medical support for children with intellectual disabilities.
A tabletop calendar initiative designed to sensitize the public about para-athletes and the Paralympic movement. The calendar celebrates the spirit and achievements of athletes with disabilities, using powerful imagery to challenge perceptions and spark conversations about disability rights and sports inclusion.
A two-day national seminar at Visva Bharati to train inclusive master trainers for the Olympism365 initiative focusing on inclusive coaching techniques for women with intellectual disabilities.
A two-day state-level tournament was organised at Chiranabin, Howrah, for female athletes with intellectual disabilities. The participants competed in Football, Badminton, Bocce, Assisted Walk, and Sprint events. Alongside the sporting activities, dental check-ups, blood tests, and general physical health screenings were also conducted.
Unified Theatre is CWF's flagship disability initiative and a first of its kind in India. Launched in 2021, in collaboration with Special Olympics Bharat, Unified Theatre brings together individuals with and without intellectual disabilities to rehearse and perform theatre on the same stage. It is built on the conviction that performing arts is one of the most powerful tools for breaking barriers, building empathy, and asserting autonomy of every person.
The programme began with hybrid classes in Kolkata reaching around 30 regular participants. By 2024, it had expanded to five districts like Kolkata, Birbhum, Hooghly, South 24 Paraganas, and Howrah with bi-weekly classes at Rampurhat, Suri, Jirat, and Kolkata, and over 100 individuals actively enrolled.
By 2025, more than 200 participants with and without disabilities were involved. CWF also secured its first government collaboration with the District Mass Education and Extension department of Birbhum marking an important institutional milestone.
In 2025, CWF launched a 6-month Certificate Course in Unified Theatre, with two batches of 30 participants each, comprising children with and without disabilities and individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community. Advanced-level batches are being planned.
16 Unified Yoga sessions conducted in 2022–23, bringing together children with and without disabilities in shared wellness practice.
A two-day inclusive cultural event featuring performances by children with and without disabilities, theatre groups, and pop-up stalls by entrepreneurs from marginalised communities.
A session held at the Department of Yoga Art and Science, Visva Bharati, addressing accessibility and inclusivity for persons with disabilities across social settings.
Annual capacity building workshops on disability rights for CWF members, volunteers, and interns. Sessions cover legal frameworks, social models of disability, and inclusive communication.
CWF's gender rights work is rooted in the belief that every person deserves dignity, safety, and access to opportunity regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, or expression. With a strong focus on the LGBTQIA+ community, CWF combines affirmative cultural programming, accessible healthcare, and economic empowerment to dismantle the structural exclusion that queer individuals particularly transgender and non-binary persons face every day. Over the past three years, CWF's gender initiatives have reached hundreds of individuals across West Bengal and have produced landmark initiatives that are amongst the first of their kind in India.
CWF has been a pioneer in transgender healthcare rights in India since 2012.CWF began advocating for the right to basic, dignified, and affirming medical care as a foundational civil right. Our early commitment led to a landmark milestone where we initiated the first research study in India on access to basic healthcare for transgender individuals, generating critical evidence to build the case for systemic change
In 2017-19, CWF implemented the UN-GYE (United Nations Environment) funded project "Health is Wealth a groundbreaking basic healthcare intervention for transgender individuals in India. This project documented Asia's first documentary on basic healthcare for transgender individuals that revealed 22 types of discriminations faced by trans-individuals in health centers across West Bengal.
The Gender-Affirmative Paramedical Training Course is one of CWF's most transformative initiatives , believed to be the first such course in India specifically designed for individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community. The course addresses two urgent gaps simultaneously: the lack of dignified livelihood pathways for queer individuals, and the severe shortage of affirming, sensitised healthcare workers for LGBTQIA+ patients.
The first batch in Bolpur in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers(PWC) aimed to train individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community in paramedical skills ,under the guidance of doctors, scientists, and clinical educators from institutions including Tata Medical Centre, Suraksha Diagnostics, and the West Bengal Department of Health. Following the successful completion of the pilot, CWF expanded the course to Kolkata in 2025 with a new batch of LGBTQIA+ individuals in collaboration with Legrand,India.
Organised on Pride Month 2024. Conducted by Ms. Shampa Sengupta, Director of Sruti Disability Rights. Attended by 60 interns, volunteers, and employees. This session explored how disability and gender identity compound marginalisation.
A focused discussion with prominent social activists and students of the Gender-Affirmative Paramedical Training Course on the specific challenges queer persons face in healthcare settings, and how systems can be made more affirming.
'Beyond Love and Rights: Marriage Equality and Its Potential of Economic Empowerment' — held at Bharat Sabha Ghar, Kolkata, attended by 100 individuals. Followed by a screening of the documentary 'Gay India Matrimony'.
A landmark LGBTQIA+ affirmative programme featuring a panel discussion, fashion show, and live music performance by Arko Mukherjee. One of the first events of its kind in Kolkata's cultural space.
Organised in 2024 featuring DJ Ma Faiza, Mother of Electronica — celebrating pride as a year-round commitment, not limited to June.
Annual internal capacity building sessions on gender rights for CWF members, interns, and volunteers. Each session covers gender theory, LGBTQIA+ rights, and inclusive communication.
A focused discussion on how masculinity is socially constructed through gender norms, and its connection to gender-based violence and discrimination.
CWF participates annually in the Kolkata Rainbow Pride celebrations, including the Gender Mela.
CWF believes that education is not a privilege , it is a right. And for children trapped in poverty, forced into labour, or pushed out of the school system, reclaiming that right requires far more than a classroom. It demands safety, trust, creativity, and a curriculum that reflects their lives and their futures. CWF's education work centres on child labourers and school dropouts in urban slums, combining structured academic learning with health, legal literacy, mental wellbeing, and the arts.
Icchedanar Pathshala is CWF's inclusive bridge school in Pyarabagan, one of Kolkata's most densely populated slum communities. For over a decade, it has served as an alternative educational space for children who have been forced into child labour or who have dropped out of the formal school system — giving them a second chance at learning, growth, and a future.
The school runs six days a week and currently serves 100 child labourers. The curriculum goes beyond conventional subjects: alongside Bengali, English, and Mathematics, students engage with social sciences including Psychology and Sociology, developing critical thinking skills and an understanding of the society they are growing up in. The school's primary goal is school readiness building the academic confidence and social-emotional skills that will enable children to eventually transition into government schools and access mainstream educational opportunities. CWF is actively working to expand the programme to reach 100 more students and to deepen its focus on holistic psychosocial development. The school also operates inclusively, welcoming children with and without disabilities in a shared learning environment.
Organised in collaboration with the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights. Conducted at Pyarabagan slum and attended by around 100 children. Equipped children with knowledge of their legal protections under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Regular workshops conducted for girls and women at Pyarabagan, breaking taboos around menstruation and providing practical health knowledge that supports both wellbeing and school attendance.
A dental health camp organised at Pyarabagan for children — addressing a widespread and often untreated health problem that can significantly affect school attendance and learning.
A psychologist-led session organised for children and teachers at Pyarabagan (2024–25), focusing on methods for managing academic stress and the responsible use of mobile phones — two critical mental health issues for children in low-income communities.
Conducted by Advocate Bhagyashree Kanjilal for 30 children at Pyarabagan. Provided foundational legal literacy — introducing children to their rights as citizens and as minors, empowering them to recognise and report violations.
A capacity building workshop for CWF's teachers, interns, and members on strategies for supporting children who exhibit challenging behaviour, often a result of trauma, poverty, or disability. Strengthens educator capability in inclusive and trauma-informed teaching.
An inclusive movie night organised for over 50 children with and without disabilities attending together. A joyful exercise in community building and shared experience.
CWF launched an artistic tabletop calendar in 2022–23 on the theme of girl child labour, combining visual realism with social commentary to raise public awareness about the exploitation of girl children in India.
CWF's healthcare work is built on a simple but radical premise: that access to quality healthcare is a right, not a luxury — and that the communities most in need are almost always the ones most excluded from the system. Through its transdisciplinary approach, CWF integrates medicine, mental health, nutrition, occupational therapy, and research to provide community-centred, low-cost, affirming healthcare to marginalised populations including tribal communities, women, children, persons with disabilities, and transgender and non-binary individuals.
In April 2022, CWF established the first transdisciplinary research lab in Eastern India, located in Bolpur, Birbhum. The lab was set up to serve rural and tribal communities in and around Bolpur with affordable health services and evidence-based research. In 2025, CWF Labs received both its Research License and Clinical Establishment License, enabling it to begin conducting diagnostic tests on-site. The lab is now expanding its roster of multi-speciality doctors and working towards creating personalised health profiles for individuals from marginalised communities, a model of care that treats each person as a whole, not just a diagnosis.
Main objectives of CWF Labs include:
A health and cancer awareness camp conducted in Kolkata, attended by around 50 individuals. Combined general health check-ups with targeted cancer awareness education.
Conducted on National Cancer Awareness Day (2024–25). Included an awareness session on childhood cancer and blood tests for 100 children from the tribal community in Bolpur.
Launched in 2023–24 in partnership with Nihon Coden (Japan) to facilitate faster and more accurate screening of anaemia among women and children. Over 1,500 women screened to date.
CWF facilitates regular subsidised consultations for marginalised patients through a network of doctors from specialisations including Occupational Therapy, Orthopaedics, Gynaecology, Child Psychology, and Nutrition. These consultations are available on an ongoing basis, making specialist care accessible to those who could never otherwise afford it.
Regular check-up sessions for children and adolescents focusing on occupational therapy needs and mental health identifying and supporting children with developmental, behavioural, or psychological needs early.
Conducted across three districts of West Bengal in 2023–24, these sessions addressed menstruation, basic hygiene, women's health, and mental health reaching women in rural and semi-urban communities with practical, accessible health education.
Sessions conducted at BITM Bolpur and Shikkha Shotro Bolpur (2024–25) exploring the relationship between physical and mental health. Attended by both students and teachers, the sessions used accessible, non-clinical language to build health literacy in the community.
