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Background: This study focuses on the positioning of gender, sexual orientation and people with disabilities in the linguistic landscapes of two selected South African universities, which are located in the Western Cape province.

Objectives: This study aims to answer the question: How are power relations depicted through linguistic landscaping in the universities?

Methods: Given that there is minimal empirical data in this field, the researcher approached this question by exploring the way in which sexual orientation and people with disabilities are perceived, via the modal resources used in the categorisation of toilet users at the institutions. Specifically, toilet signage was observed as there were only a few other signage or forms of support (such as ramps and lifts – some of which may seem disability-unfriendly in terms of space) and acknowledgement in other places at the institutions for people with disabilities. Data (signs, images, texts, billboards and posters) were collected by means of photography. The interpretive paradigm was used to determine the choice of methodology: critical discourse analysis and multimodality. These were also used to thematically analyse the collected data.

Results: Findings revealed that sexuality, as well as subtle inequality, unfortunately remain unravelled areas in South Africa’s higher institutions of learning. In addition, the degenderisation of people with disabilities appears to be prevalent at the institutions, although this may not necessarily be reflective of practices at all higher education institutions in South Africa.

Conclusion: Nonetheless, the examined results are stimulating indicators of hegemonic and preferred practices in public places. They also depict the obtainable dissimilar scales and imbalances in society, which are not addressed may impede other authentic and ongoing measures of social integration and advancement.

African Journal of Disability, Vol 8, 2019

This report presents findings from a short study in Zambia to examine its social protection system and programmes and identifies the challenges faced by persons with disabilities in accessing them. The study was undertaken by a visit to Zambia between 31st October – 4th November 2016 during which a range of interviews and focus group discussions were undertaken. The study was supported by a review of the literature and some limited analysis of administrative data.

Topics presented in the report include:

• the broader context of Zambia particularly around issues of education, health and consumption dynamics
• the national population of persons with disabilities
• key challenges faced by persons with disabilities
• the legislative and policy framework on disability in Zambia
• the governance of social protection and support for persons with disabilities
• the disability classification system and an overview of the social protection system
• the evolution of the Social Cash Transfer and access to the scheme by persons with disabilities 

Background: Recent education-related research has raised concerns about the persistent exclusion of vulnerable learners in Uganda. The Revised Primary Teacher Education Curriculum of 2013 marked an ambitious yet inconclusive attempt to advance the implementation of inclusive education but has encountered deeply entrenched sociocultural exclusionary practices among education experts.

Objectives: This study aimed to explicate education practitioners’ interpretations of Uganda’s flagship inclusive education programme in preservice primary teacher education.

Method: Drawing on the conceptual vocabulary of frame analysis and the qualitative analysis of individual and group interviews and classroom observations, the interpretations of inclusive education implementation in preservice primary teacher education in Uganda were examined. The participants included policy design experts, curriculum design experts and classroom practitioners.

Results: Three main findings emerged. Firstly, interpretations of inclusive education displayed a narrow framing heuristic of inclusive education as a perfunctory, daily practice rather than a pathway for reflective, inclusive pedagogical engagement. Secondly, the heuristic encouraged the treatment of inclusive pedagogy as a ‘label’ under a specific rubric referring to sensory impairments or disabilities – a historical device for sociocultural exclusion. Thirdly, inclusive education was a praxis but was misframed from its original intentions, causing tension and resentment among practitioners. These findings contribute to the debates on the sustainability of inclusive education beyond preservice teacher education.

Conclusion: Uganda’s flagship inclusive education programme in preservice primary teacher education was fraught with tensions, ambiguities and an overt, urgent need for change.

African Journal of Disability, Vol 8, 2019

Background: The call for institutions of higher education to foster interaction with communities and ensure training is responsive to the needs of communities is well documented. In 2011, Stellenbosch University collaborated with the Worcester community to identify the needs of people with disabilities within the community. How the university was engaging with these identified needs through student training still needed to be determined.

Objectives: This study describes the engagement process of reciprocity and responsivity in aligning needs identified by persons with disability to four undergraduate allied health student training programmes in Worcester, Western Cape.

Method: A single case study using the participatory action research appraisal methods explored how undergraduate student service learning was responding to 21 needs previously identified in 2011 alongside persons with disability allowing for comprehensive feedback and a collaborative and coordinated response.

Results: Students’ service learning activities addressed 14 of the 21 needs. Further collaborative dialogue resulted in re-grouping the needs into six themes accompanied by a planned collaborative response by both community and student learning to address all 21 needs previously identified.

Conclusion: Undergraduate students’ service learning in communities has the potential to meet community identified needs especially when participatory action research strategies are implemented. Reciprocity exists when university and community co-engage to construct, reflect and adjust responsive service learning. This has the potential to create a collaborative environment and process in which trust, accountability, inclusion and communication is possible between the university and the community.

African Journal of Disability, Vol 8, 2019

A summary overview of the findings of a study led by LIGHT FOR THE WORLD with its partners, supported by the Early Childhood Program of the Open Society Foundations. The aim of the study was to uncover the trends in aid for inclusive Early Child Development (ECD) for 2017. It further identified strategic commitments to ECD, as reflected in policy documents up until 2019. The research examined donors’ spending and commitments in three key areas: early childhood development; inclusive early education and pre-primary; and disability-inclusive early childhood development investments in the sectors of health, nutrition, education and sanitation.

This study presents a baseline on donor investment in ECD services in low- and middle-income countries for the children who are traditionally left behind. It draws lessons from six bilateral donor countries – Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) – as well as the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), European Union (EU) Institutions, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank. Donor advocacy briefs for each of these donors are provided.

The study focuses on donor contributions to scaling up ECD services in four African countries: Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Purpose: There is very little demographic or prevalence data  regarding persons with disabilities in Ethiopia, let alone data on more in-depth factors such as access to services or quality of life. This study aimed to find out about the current quality of life of persons with disabilities in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR), Ethiopia.

Method: The WHO CBR Indicator Survey was used to measure quality of life, and the Washington Group Short Set was included to allow disaggregation of the data by different types of functional limitations. Interviews were conducted with 966 persons with disabilities in 10 towns in SNNPR. The majority of data collectors were persons with disabilities themselves.

Results: People with disabilities who were surveyed generally regarded their health as good (65.9%). Very few had significant levels of education (16.5% were completing higher education). Only 6.7% were working for wages and 45.2% were reportedly working on their own account. Hardly any of them (2.9%) stated that their money was sufficient for their needs. Only a small group (38%) felt valued in their community. Just over half of the respondents (56.6%) were members of a Disabled Persons’ Organisation (DPO) or any other self-representing group.

Conclusion: Persons with disabilities scored relatively or extremely low in all areas of life measured with the CBR Indicator Survey (health, education, livelihood, social and empowerment). The survey will be repeated after a few years in the same communities to measure changes over time, and persons without disabilities will be included in order to draw comparisons.

Implications: Public and private organisations in SNNPR need to become more accessible and inclusive of persons with disabilities so as to improve their quality of life.

The 2015-2017 Advocating for Change Project (AfC), a project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), aimed at promoting and advocating for rights of people with disabilities through the push for the ratification of the UNCRPD at the national level, improving quality decentralization process at the local level and promoting quality livelihood action for people with disabilities through improved and inclusive vocational training center (CNEFP) in Tibar.

One particular activity in this project is the collection and dissemination of best practices with the "Making it Work" methodology. This methodology aims to document and promote already existing best practices that adhere to the principles of UNCRPD. Making it Work utilizes a multi stakeholder approach and encourages members of DPOs and other organizations to identify best practices and effective action in and surrounding their localities. These best practices are then collected with the ultimate goal to serve as examples of embodiment of the UNCRPD for replication by organizations or institutions elsewhere.

Question & problem

Students with disabilities are bullied more often than their typically developing peers. Students in schools for children with disabilities may be victimized more often than students with disabilities in inclusive settings. Being bullied, which can take forms which are physical, verbal, indirect (relational, emotional, or social), and/or sexual, is associated with negative academic, social, and psychological outcomes for the victim. This evidence brief summarises what we know about how to prevent bullying of children with disabilities.

Question & problem

It is estimated that approximately 10-20% of children, adolescents and young people (under the age of 18) worldwide have a disabling mental health condition. Approximately two-thirds of the global youth population goes to school for a significant proportion of the day. The idea of delivering mental health support in the setting has gained prominence as a way to increase the coverage and accessibility of mental health support for children. While there is a wealth of evidence around school mental health approaches in HIC, there is limited information with regards to their impact in low- and middle-income settings. This evidence brief explores what has worked for the delivery of school mental health initiatives in diverse settings, as well as evidence-based recommendations to strengthen them.