AKASA or ‘the sky’ in Sinhala, is the acronym for Aabadha Sahitha Kanthawange Sangamaya, the Sinhalese for the Association of Women with Disabilities . It is a network of self help groups of persons with disabilities or family members of persons with disabilities, with an emphasis on women with disabilities or female family members of persons with disabilities. The Executive Committee comprises solely of women with disabilities or female guardians of severely impaired persons with disabilities or children with disabilities. AKASA works in the rural areas and focuses on poorer communities. AKASA follows a rights-based, bottom-up approach.