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Saadi was forced to flee his hometown in Iraq after it fell into the hands of the Islamic State group. Months later, the armed group retreated from his region and Saadi returned to check on his house. The instant he opened the front door, a bomb exploded, leaving him seriously injured. Today, Saadi and his family are trying to recover from this traumatic event with help from Handicap International.

Abdelillah lost his leg in an attack on his home village, in the center of Iraq, more than ten years ago. In 2014, when the Islamic State group seized control of his region, Abdelillah fled with his family to the north of the country. As part of the response we provide to displaced Iraqis, Handicap International has offered Abdelillah the chance to attend psychosocial and physical therapy sessions.

Moussifa was born in 2007 in Togo. Long deprived of a primary education because of her hearing disability and difficult family situation, she has finally been enrolled in school thanks to Handicap International, who intervened with the educational authorities in Togo on her behalf. She now attends a second-year primary school class (almost) like any other.

Handicap International has started up mine clearance operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Starting in June 2016, the organization and its local partner AFRILAM will clear a 50,000 meter squared plot of land, the equivalent of eight football pitches, located around 15 kilometers from Kinsagani, the main city in the province of Tshopo in the north-east of the country.
 

Since 2012, Handicap International has been improving the school enrolment and attendance of 170,000 children with disabilities in nine West African countries through the “Promoting the Full Participation of Children with Disabilities in Education” (APPEHL) project. Sandra Boisseau, who coordinates APPEHL from Dakar, Senegal, explains what the organization is doing to remove obstacles to education for these children.

Handicap International is preparing to launch a response in aid of the most vulnerable individuals affected by flooding and landslides in Sri Lanka, which was hit by Cyclone Roanu on 15th May.

Eloquent, determined and mature beyond his 14 years, Qusay is coping with losing both his legs in an air strike in Syria. His progress is an inspiration to everyone he meets.

The European Football Championships, Euro 2016, will be closely followed by fans of European football across the world. Handicap International’s teams plan to use the event to highlight how playing football or another sport can help restore some of the mobility and self-esteem of lower-limb amputees. Isabelle Urseau, a rehabilitation specialist at Handicap International, tells us more.

Five-year-old Malak is a curious and independent child who likes nothing more than walking round the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan with her father Houdey. But in December 2015 she was at home in Syria with her brother and sisters when the room they were in took a direct hit during an air strike.

Handicap International is preparing to launch a response in aid of the most vulnerable individuals affected by flooding and landslides in Sri Lanka, which was hit by Cyclone Roanu on 15th May.

Cyclone Roanu, which hit Sri Lanka on Sunday 15th May, caused severe flooding and landslides, killing over 100 people, and affecting 300,000 more. Handicap International is preparing to launch a response in aid of the disaster’s victims.

Erika Trabucco is one of Handicap International’s reconstruction and building accessibility specialists. An architect by training, from March 2015 to April 2016, she worked for Handicap International in Gaza to rebuild a hospital specialized in the care and treatment of people with disabilities and to improve the accessibility of public buildings for people with disabilities.

Kenya has announced plans to close the refugee camps on its territory and to rapidly repatriate refugees who, in some cases, have lived in the camps for over 20 years. A collective of 11 NGOs, including Handicap International, have signed a joint statement reminding the Kenyan government of its obligation towards the refugees.

Handicap International, with UNICEF's support, led a vast awareness-raising campaign in schools on the risks of mines and explosive remnants of war. The campaign took place near the front line where the Ukrainian army is fighting the pro-Russian militia, between October 2015 and February 2016. Over 5,600 children aged from 6 to 18 received risk education.