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Let’s break silos now! Achieving disability-inclusive education in a post-COVID world

HUMANITY & INCLUSION (HI)
November 2020

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Children with disabilities face multiple obstacles to access and thrive in education. In low- and middle-income countries, 50% of children with disabilities are out of school.  More than 40% of countries in the regions of Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean still lean towards segregated education systems. Obstacles for the education of children with disabilities exist both within and outside the education system. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated inequalities in education. In times of crisis, coordinated multi-sectoral approaches are even more important to address the complexity and interdependency of children’s care, safety, wellbeing and education. 

The extensive experience of Humanity & Inclusion and its partners across the 27 countries where they implement Inclusive education projects was crucial to develop this report and to nourish it with first-hand expertise and evidence. The Report contains arguments, testimonies, case-studies, and a list of actionable recommendations for governments in low and middle income countries, aid donors, and multilateral agencies

Bridge CRPD-SDGs global training on Article 11

FLEURY, Tchaurea
UJAH, Sulayman AbdulMumuni
October 2020

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The IDA-IDDC Bridge CRPD-SDGs Global Training on Article 11 was the first-ever global training initiative on Article 11 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) to bring together Disabled Persons’ Organisations (DPOs) and humanitarian representatives. An outline of the eight day event is given and lessons learnt are reported.

Guidance note #2 Inclusive Governance and the “aftermath” of the Covid-19 pandemic

Bull
Goupil-Barbier
Holmes
June 2020

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While the first guidance note by the inclusive governance unit focuses primarily on the moment of the outbreak and emergency responses, this note anticipates to examine conditions of governance after the outbreak and how HI interventions could look like to further mitigate or event prevent negative effects of the outbreak. It is already clear that the long-term socio-economic impacts will affect persons with disabilities disproportionately, so proactivity is necessary as from now. It aims to enable global reflection while respecting that situations differ according to the national context of an HI country of intervention

Fragmented yet together: the disability movement in Sierra Leone

VAN DEN BRINK, Amélie
ELBERS, Willem
IBRAHIM, Aisha Fofana
2020

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The on-going struggles of disability movements worldwide have been examined from multiple perspectives. As of yet, however, research into this topic has largely overlooked experiences on the African continent. This article seeks to address this gap by presenting a case study of the disability movement in Sierra Leone, West Africa. The study finds that on the one hand the Sierra Leonean disability movement is fragmented (referring to the tendency of groups to work individually as opposed to operating in a collective manner), thus limiting synergy. Three main ‘centrifugal’ forces underlying fragmentation are identified: resource scarcity, impairment specific interests and capacity differences between impairment types. On the other hand, the movement somehow manages to survive and even achieve modest successes. The research shows that interdependence, shared experiences of marginalization, and a clear identification of the ‘other’ have a unifying effect.

  • The disability movement in Sierra Leone is fragmented, meaning it struggles to formulate a unified position and act collectively, yet somehow survives and even manages to achieve some successes;
  • The fragmentation is fueled by competition between groups, a hierarchy between impairment types and interests that are impairment specific.
  • The movement is kept together by mutual dependence to achieve key goals and raise funds, shared experiences of marginalization and negative experiences with ‘outsiders’.
  • The research offers recommendations to disability groups and donors to mitigate fragmenting forces while strengthening unifying forces.

A preschool for all children? – Swedish preschool teachers’ perspective on inclusion

HAU, Hanna Ginner
SELENIUS, Heidi
ÅKESSON, Eva Björck
2020

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Building on the Salamanca Statement from 1994, the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals 2030 embraces inclusion for children in early childhood education. The European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education in 2015–2017 completed a project on inclusive early childhood education, focusing on structures, processes, and outcomes that ensure a systemic approach to high-quality Inclusive Early Childhood Education (IECE). An ecosystem model of IECE was developed with a self-reflection tool for improving inclusion. This study’s aim was to investigate practitioners’ perspective on the inclusive processes and supportive structures defined in the ecosystem model, to contribute to a deeper understanding of how inclusive practice might be enabled and how barriers for inclusion can be removed. The self-reflection tool was administered in a heterogeneous municipality in Sweden, where inclusive settings are standard. Documentation from approximately 70 teachers on 27 teams was received. The documentation was analysed with qualitative content analysis based on the ecosystem model. The results showed a strong emphasis on group-related processes, whereas data on individual-related processes were scarce. This one-sided focus on the group level might endanger the inclusive processes and outcomes concerning the individual child.

Inclusion of persons with disabilities in European Union development cooperation mechanisms. A preliminary study of calls for proposals in geographic and thematic instruments

AXELSSON, Charlotte
September 2019

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The overall objective of this study is to assess the EU’s contribution to the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities in development cooperation programmes and projects funded by the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) and the European Development Fund (EDF) during the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework.

The specific objectives of the study are:

  • To raise awareness and identify opportunities and recommendations that can support the EU and its Member States, civil society and other actors in meeting their obligations under the CRPD
  • To review key development policies and strategies of the EU and their commitments to implementing the CRPD
  • To review the inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities in call for proposals in regional programmes (Latin America, African/Caribbean/Pacific and Asia/South Asia) and the thematic programme of Non-State Actors and Civil Society between 2014-2018 in the DCI and the EDF
  • To get a better understanding of opportunities and challenges on mainstreaming disability at EU Delegation implementation level.

Contextualisation will be provided through meeting with implementing partners of a selected number of calls for proposals and discuss with EU Delegation staff in four countries covered by the project Bridging the Gap-II: Ecuador, Ethiopia, Paraguay and Sudan

 

Country reports for Ecuador, Ethiopia, Paraguay and Sudan are provided

Systems thinking for assistive technology: a commentary on the GREAT summit

MACLACHLAN, Malcolm
SCHERER, Marcia J
2018

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The area of assistive technology has a long history of technological ingenuity and innovation. In order to ensure that the benefits of assistive technology are equitably distributed across the population and life course, it is necessary to adopt a systemic approach to the area. We describe examples of systems thinking and non-systems thinking across 10 Ps. These Ps are People (or users, as the primary beneficiaries of assistive technology), Policy, Products, Personnel, Provision (as key strategic drivers at systems level); and Procurement, Place, Pace, Promotion and Partnership (as key situational factors for systems). Together these Ps should constitute a framework for an “open” system that can evolve and adapt, that empowers users, inter-connects key components and locates these in the reality of differing contexts. The adoption of a stronger systems thinking perspective within the assistive technology field should allow for more equitable, more resilient and more sustainable assistive technology across high, middle- and low-income contexts and countries.

Toolkit for DPOs Voluntary National Reviews

INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY ALLIANCE (IDA)
CBM
January 2018

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This toolkit was developed jointly by the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and CBM as an exploratory and interactive tool for organizations of persons with disabilities (DPOs) on the review and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) implementation, at national, regional and global levels. The toolkit aims to provide step-by-step guidance, ideas, suggestions and templates for building successful advocacy campaigns and strategies to participate in the monitoring mechanisms of the Sustainable Development Goals. This toolkit will build on the monitoring process called the Voluntary National Review (VNR) that takes place at the global level linked with national and regional components

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