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Following a short summary of factors limiting access to education for children with disabilities, Humanity & Inclusion (HI) work in inclusive education is briefly reported. HI's aims, main areas of activities (families and communities, making services inclusive (education, social, etc.) and developing policies) and ongoing projects are outlined. Examples of innovative practices and testimonies (from Mozambique, Gaza, Mali, Nepal and Sierra Leone) are given. The importance of inclusive education and HI's approach are discussed.

The unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on education systems worldwide and the HI #school4all campaign are also highlighted.  

Studies in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) point to a significant association of common mental disorders with female gender, low education, and poverty. Depression and anxiety are frequently complicated by lack of disease awareness and non-adherence, the absence of care and provider resources, low value given to mental health by policy-makers, stigma, and discrimination towards the mentally ill. This paper aims to show that female village leaders/ community health and outreach workers (CHWs) can be used to overcome the lack of psychiatric resources for treatment of common mental disorders in rural areas.

A multidisciplinary team was set up to evaluate and treat potential clients in the villages. A program of care delivery was planned, developed and implemented by: (a) targeting indigent women in the region; (b) integrating mental health care with primary care; (c) making care affordable and accessible by training local women as CHWs with ongoing continued supervision; and (d) sustaining the program long-term.   Indigenous CHWs served as a link between the centre and the community. They received hands-on training, ongoing supervision, and an abridged but focused training module to identify common mental disorders, help treatment compliance, networking, illness literacy and community support by outreach workers. They used assessment tools translated into the local language, and conducted focus groups and client training programs. 

As a result, mental healthcare was provided to clients from as many as 150 villages in South India. Currently the services are utilized on a regular basis by about 50 villages around the central project site. The current active caseload of registered clients is 1930.  Empowerment of treated clients is the final outcome, assisting them in self-employment. 

Rural mental healthcare must be culturally congruent, and must integrate primary care and local CHWs for success. Training, supervision, ongoing teaching of CHWs, on-site resident medical officers, research and outreach are essential to continued success over two decades.

Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development, [S.l.], v. 30, n. 2, p. 104-113, Oct. 2019

Between 2015 and 2017, Plan International Mozambique worked together with communities supporting 106 preschools in rural Mozambique. In late 2016, an approach was piloted in 18 community-based preschools to support them to be disability-inclusive. The overall goal was to increase the number of children with disabilities enrolled in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) centres delivering quality early learning opportunities. The pilot took place over a 12 month period. Summarised findings about the current status of inclusion in preschool programmes run by Plan International Mozambique, case studies and lessons learned about the inclusion of children with disabilities in these programmes are provided.  

They describe five aspects that need to be considered to remove barriers and ensure that children with disabilities can access and benefit from early childhood education:

1. Work directly with the parents of children with disabilities

2. Address individual physical and medical needs of children with disabilities

3. Build the skills and confidence of caretakers

4. Equip and build a strong implementing team

5. Build evidence on what is happening and what (doesn’t) work

This learning resource is the result of a partnership between World Vision Australia and CBM Australia that aims to improve inclusion of people with disabilities in World Vision’s Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) initiatives, including in Sri Lanka. The guidelines are based on experiences and observations from World Vision’s implementation of the Rural Integrated WASH 3 (RIWASH 3) project in Jaffna District, Northern Province, funded by the Australian Government’s Civil Society WASH Fund 2. The four year project commenced in 2014. It aimed to improve the ability of WASH actors to sustain services, increase adoption of improved hygiene practices, and increase equitable use of water and sanitation facilities of target communities within 11 Grama Niladari Divisions (GNDs) in Jaffna District.

To support disability inclusion within the project, World Vision partnered with CBM Australia. CBM Australia has focused on building capacities of partners for disability
inclusion, fostering connections with local Disabled People’s Organisations, and providing technical guidance on disability inclusion within planned activities. World Vision also partnered with the Northern Province Consortium of the Organizations for the Differently Abled (NPCODA) for disability assessment, technical support and capacity building on inclusion of people with disabilities in the project.

HYGIENE AT HOME FOR PEOPLE WITH HIGH SUPPORT NEEDS
This document is one of two developed in the Jaffna District and describes strategies that used to assist households and individuals in hygiene tasks at home. The strategies were designed to be low cost and were developed using locally available materials and skills in the Jaffna District of Sri Lanka.

NOTE: The development of this learning resource was funded by the Australian Government's Civil Society WASH Fund 2.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the implementation of an online parent training programme in Bangladesh, designed to enhance parental knowledge of autism and neurodevelopmental disorders and related interventions. In addition, study participants were expected to become “Master Trainers” with the intention of training other parents in their local communities.

Method: This survey study assessed parental knowledge and programme effectiveness, such as potential online learning barriers, cultural sensitivities, and general course content feedback after each unit.

Results: The programme had an 81% completion rate (with parents completing all but one unit) with an average programme knowledge score of 86%. Parents felt that the course content was moderately difficult, the length of the units was appropriate, and the units were culturally sensitive. They requested more detailed lessons, specific case studies, and adaptation of the curriculum for older children.

Conclusion: The pilot programme merits the next phase of development, which includes local adaptation and translation. However, the findings are limited by the small sample size.

This toolkit is intended primarily for use by CSO's at the community level in India for use with field workers and local governments for challenging stigma and discrimination against people affected by leprosy/disabilities. The toolkit uses simple activities and pictures and is based on a participatory approach which requires active involvement of the group being trained. There are 6 modules:

What is leprosy

What is stigma

How we stigmatise others

How it feels to be stigmatised

Understanding human rights

Action towards inclusion

There are 10 appendices providing supporting information for the toolkit  

"In response to the Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, Médecins Sans Frontières-Operational Centre Brussels (MSF-OCB) decided to concentrate its efforts in the severely affected area of Guiuan and its four surrounding municipalities. The MSF-OCB intervention included a comprehensive approach to mental health, including care for people with pre-existing and post-disaster severe mental disorders. Based on this experience of providing MH care in the first five months after Typhoon Haiyan, we report on the monthly volume of MH activities and beneficiaries; sociodemographic and care seeking characteristics of beneficiaries receiving MH counselling/care, stratified by the severity of their condition; profile and outcomes of patients with severe mental disorders; prescribing practice of psychotropic medication; and main factors facilitating the identification and management of individuals with severe mental disorders"

International Health, Vol.8, No.5, pp. 336-344

Doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihw032

The transition from school is an important period. All young people should be supported throughout this time to access options which allow them to meaningfully participate and contribute to our society as adults. Many young people with disability however have extremely poor post school transition experiences.

This report is based on the direct experience of young people with disability. The paper highlights key issues from current research, legislation and consultations with key stakeholders. It explores present and past school transition practices, barriers faced by students with disability and presents recommendations for improving outcomes and options for post school transition of students with disability

This website presents information about a joint UNICEF-Handicap International programme on child disability in two cities of Mozambique, Maputo and Matola. The focus of the project was to first identify children with disabilities and then ensure that these children could access services. The website features a useful video and practical case studies