Mata’afa Fa’atino Utuampu

Mata’afa Fa’atino Utuampu is a Samoan disability advocate, a UNCRPD Trainer for the Pacific, and the General Manager of Nuanua O Le Alofa (NOLA), Samoa’s national advocacy organization for persons with disabilities.

As a blind woman, Utuampu has harnessed her experiences as a person with disability to drive her mission to ensure representation of persons with disabilities throughout government consultations, non-government and private sector partnerships and community development. In doing so, she works to achieve the United Nations ethos of nothing about us without us.

Utuampu has led NOLA to successfully advocate for Samoa to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the adoption of the Washington Questions in the National Census in 2016. In 2020, NOLA launched their Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Toolkit for persons with disabilities in partnership with UN Women, the Pacific Disability Forum, and the Australian Government. These are just some of the remarkable achievements that Utuampu has ensured at the helm of NOLA.

In addition to her advocacy efforts, Utuampu remains community focused, always ensuring that the individual members of NOLA are supported to access equal opportunity across all aspects of their lives including education, employment, and health.