Humanity & Inclusion has published a report on November 20, on the difficulties children with disabilities face in accessing education in the world’s poorest countries.

Download the report here

Valentina Pomatto, Inclusion Advocacy Officer for Humanity & Inclusion, explains the obstacles of inclusive education.

Standing at the front of the class, Moussifa patiently recites the words written in chalk on the blackboard, words familiar to every child who is learning to read: “This morning, Aliou went to school. In his bag there is a pen, a notebook, a pencil, a slate, a pencil, and a book. His mother is happy.”

Although all children have the right to an education, 32 million children with disabilities are not enrolled in school. HI has launched a #school4all campaign to ensure schools are accessible to everyone. This is a priority for HI, which works in 31 countries to help 144,000 children receive an education. 

Every child, including children with disabilities, has the right to an education.

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Many factors contribute to the exclusion of children with disabilities, including discrimination, inaccessible school buildings, a lack of accessible transportation, and a lack of trained teachers and special education resources. Exclusion from education further perpetuates the vicious cycle of disability and poverty.

Humanity & Inclusion works to change these perceptions and opens doors to schools for children and young people with disabilities through the promotion of inclusive education. In fact, in 2017, HI donors gave access to education to 144,604 children with disabilities.

HI has been working in the field of education since 1998, and in the inclusive education sector since 2004. Its work focuses particularly on children with disabilities—the most vulnerable and excluded young learners in the world, in low-income countries and in development and emergency contexts. HI aims to strengthen the enrollment of children and young adults with disabilities in school, as part of an inclusive approach.

The need for inclusive education has been given strong backing at an international level: one of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030 is to "ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning."

Projects in 31 countries

HI implements projects in West, Central, North and East Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The organization also implements regional actions covering nine countries in West Africa and three countries in the Maghreb.

Humanity & Inclusion aims to

• Increase the number of children with disabilities enrolled in mainstream schools or receiving home or community based schooling, who continue their education and successfully complete their schooling
• Improve their integration with other children and participation in social activities as part of their education
• Increase the number of teachers trained in inclusive education and strengthen their skills to meet the learning needs of children with disabilities
• Improve the mainstreaming of disability in national level education policies

Three activity areas: community, services (educational, social, etc.) and policies

• HI provides direct support to children with disabilities and their families by working with communities. In conjunction with local partners (disabled people's organizations, neighborhood associations, and so on), HI visits villages, identifies out-of-school children with disabilities, makes parents aware of the importance of educating their children, and how to support them.
• HI builds the capacities of staff in education, social and health services: the organization ensures that schools provide appropriate infrastructure (such as access ramps, adapted toilets and special adapted chairs for children with physical disabilities), teachers with disability training, and rehabilitation support for children with disabilities.
• HI helps ministries develop more inclusive national education policies that take into account disability issues.