Hopeful Because She Is Curious 

Over the course of her career, Janina Arsenjeva has worked with governments, international organizations, civil society actors, and disability rights movements across Europe and Central Asia. Her work has taken her to all five Central Asian republics, where she has supported efforts to advance inclusion, equality, and disability rights in contexts shaped by complex histories, rapid transitions, and diverse social realities.

In this conversation with ADC, Janina reflects on what meaningful inclusion looks like in practice, why collaboration matters, how leadership can accelerate change, and what businesses can learn from the inclusion journey. 

Throughout the discussion, one message emerged again and again: inclusion is not a destination. It is a continuous process that requires commitment, humility, and a willingness to learn.

What has your journey across Central Asia and Europe taught you?

I began by asking Janina what her work had taught her about meaningful inclusion and whether she had encountered examples of institutions that had genuinely succeeded in creating inclusion that works.

Janina began by reflecting on her connection to Central Asia and the lessons the region has taught her over the years.

"Central Asia has been my big love and passion for a long time. I have found this niche because of certain skills and experiences that could be transferable to the region. What I do is not at all unique, but I have been able to apply universal knowledge on inclusion, disability and non-discrimination to the context of former Soviet countries that are still going through a process of decolonization.

There are language barriers, cultural differences, and different historical realities. We know fairly little about Central Asia. It often falls between spheres of influence. If you look at international classifications, Central Asia belongs to the broader Europe region, but if you look at it from Europe, it can feel like a completely different universe."

Janine continued to explain that inclusion is not a finite process. It doesn't have a beginning and an end. Even countries that are often given as "examples of inclusion" still have people who are unhappy with the state of equality in their country. There will be people taking their governments to court. There will be people complaining. 

She added, "I actually find that to be a very good sign because it means there is awareness. People start recognizing that something is not okay, that there are certain practices that should not be happening. Twenty or thirty years ago they might not even have recognized them as a problem. We watch movies from the 1950s and 1960s where a woman's place is in the home and that was simply accepted. Today we see things differently. Inclusion works in a similar way. We begin by recognizing things that previously went unquestioned."

One of the strongest themes throughout our conversation was Janina's belief that inclusion cannot be achieved by governments, organizations, or experts working in isolation. Meaningful progress happens when the people most affected by decisions are involved in shaping them.

"Whenever I have seen good practices of disability inclusion, they have only happened when people worked together. You cannot really achieve disability inclusion just because a government sits down and decides to write good policies. If it doesn't include people, it will inevitably miss out on what people want, how people see inclusion, and how different people experience equality.

You need to include people with disabilities not only as beneficiaries or as people who check whether policies are implemented correctly, but also as implementers of those policies. That is really the only way you can achieve meaningful inclusion.

Increasingly, I see that the problems are often the same everywhere. The magnitude can be different. The context can be different. But there isn't a country in the world that has successfully eliminated inequality. That's why there is value in humility. There isn't somebody who has got it completely right and somebody else who has got it completely wrong. I've seen a lot of good practices in places where people might not expect them."