A Polish organisation had held the first international edition of a beauty pageant for women in wheelchairs in an effort to change social perceptions about people with disabilities.

Aleksandra Chichikova, from Belarus, was the winner of the Miss Wheelchair World in Warsaw.

Lebohang Monyatsi, from South Africa was the runner-up, followed by Polish woman Adrianna Zawadzinska.

The event was organised by The Only One Foundation, which was founded by two disabled women seeking to break down barriers limiting disabled people.

There was no Australian contestant among the 24 candidates who took part from around the world.

After four editions of Miss Poland Wheelchair, the pageant on Saturday marked an effort to go global.

“[A] wheelchair is not a constraint impossible to bestride, it is just something additional to your personality,” The Only One Foundation said on its website.

The organisation says that every woman in a wheelchair has the right “to be whoever she wants and to feel beautiful.”

The city of Warsaw co-organised the event.