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A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador on the evening of Saturday 16th April. On 20th April, 587 people were reported to have been killed and more than 8,000 injured. According to the United Nations, more than one million people (of a population of around 16 million) may have been affected. The country has suffered considerable material damage and it is not possible to access entire areas of the North West.

After losing both legs in the Nepal earthquake, Sandesh, 14, thought he would never walk again. But after being fitted with artificial limb legs by Handicap International, he recently took his first steps.

Nirmala, 8, has sparkling eyes. After losing her right leg following the earthquake which struck Nepal in April 2015, she underwent a long period of rehabilitation with the support of Humanity & Inclusion physical therapists. Today, she is walking again on her artificial limb leg and obsessed with just one thing: becoming an actress.

Present in Nepal for 15 years, Handicap International was able to launch an immediate response to the devastating earthquake that struck the country on 25th April 2015. Taking advantage of advance preparations for natural disasters in the country, we were also able to draw on our expertise in providing care and treatment to earthquake victims.

More than 8,700 people were killed and over 22,000 injured when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on 25th April 2015. Handicap International launched an immediate relief effort to help the most vulnerable individuals. One year on, we continue to supply aid to earthquake victims.
 

The Arms Trade Treaty was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 2nd April 2013, an important step in the fight against weapons proliferation. Handicap International is working in 20 countries to raise awareness of the risks posed by small arms and explosive remnants of war.
 

The sun has just come up. After the team has loaded up the equipment, Aziz, Handicap International's Head of Demining Operations, motivates the troops and reminds them of the day's objective: demining the village of Diagnon, located around fifty kilometers out of Ziguinchor. 

In response to the crisis in the Central African Republic, Handicap International has set up a logistics hub to make it easier for humanitarian organizations to access vulnerable people in isolated areas of the country.

Handicap International has distributed winter kits containing clothes, mattresses and blankets to vulnerable families in Nepal who lost everything in the earthquake of April 2015. Ten months on, the organization continues to supply aid to victims of the disaster.

There is a high prevalence of disability in Cuba. One third of people with disabilities have an intellectual disability. Handicap International’s project aims at improving the living conditions of people with disabilities and their families and promotes their inclusion in communities in Piñar del Rio province, in the west of Cuba.

From Syria to Yemen, Afghanistan, Colombia, Myanmar and Tunisia, the use of banned explosive weapons increased significantly in 2014 and 2015. To mark International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, Handicap International is calling for an immediate end to the use of these weapons.

Since 1996, HI has managed a physical rehabilitation center in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. This center is the only one providing comprehensive services to people living with disabilities across the whole region. We visit the center with Rasool, the officer in charge of our activities in Kandahar province.

Sayed is a six-year-old boy from Afghanistan with an irresistible smile. When he was five, he was injured by an improvised mine – one of many victim-activated devices that regularly kill and maim people in Afghanistan. After Sayed’s left leg was amputated, he was immediately treated by Handicap International and he is steadily regaining his independence. We talked to him and his father, Mohammed, at Handicap International’s physical rehabilitation center in Kandahar.

For one year now Yemen has been torn apart by a conflict that has killed over 3,000 civilians. The humanitarian needs are immense. Since October 2015, Handicap International has been providing care for the injured. Over 1,200 people have already been helped by the organization.

The conflict that devestated the region of Casamance in southern Senegal for thirty years is now over. However, anti-personnel mines still pose a threat to civilians. Alongside its mine clearance operations, Handicap International is also working with its partner, ASVM (the Senegalese Association of Mine Victims), to inform and raise people's awareness of the dangers posed by mines. Over an eight-month period, awareness-raising sessions will be held in 60 schools and 65 villages.