Update in 2020
Able Child Africa have successfully achieved and have now surpassed this commitment. In Tanzania, one project has successfully enrolled 340 children with disabilities into schools; while another project in Uganda enrolled 388 children with disabilities in its latest project year (bringing total enrolment figures for this project to 1716). Despite hitting targets set for 2018, Able Child Africa continues to utilise this proven methodology to surpass these targets and embed this approach in new and ongoing ...
Update in 2020
Able Child Africa have successfully achieved and have now surpassed this commitment. In Tanzania, one project has successfully enrolled 340 children with disabilities into schools; while another project in Uganda enrolled 388 children with disabilities in its latest project year (bringing total enrolment figures for this project to 1716). Despite hitting targets set for 2018, Able Child Africa continues to utilise this proven methodology to surpass these targets and embed this approach in new and ongoing projects. The aforementioned project in Uganda is an ongoing project so further enrolments are still to come, with total enrolments by the end of the project on course to be 1972 children with disabilities. Another project in Tanzania has seen the enrolment of 363 children with disabilities so far, as well as 32 master Trainers and 260 class teachers trained in the Child to Child methodology.
These numbers have been achieved through a multifaceted approach which targeted children with disabilities, other children, parents, teachers and government officials. In turn, this has strengthened the reputation of our partners and has also allowed them a platform to achieve real change. For example, our partner Child Support Tanzania Awarded were awarded a national civil society organisation award for ‘Outstanding Impact in Disability Rights’. They have also forged a partnership with the government’s Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance to monitor Tanzania’s human rights record regarding children with disabilities. They have been appointed as secretary of the Regional Education Learning Initiative’s Accountability cluster, and have successfully lobbied for the national implementation of the Strategy on Inclusive Education (2017-2021).
Another key element of this approach is the creation and maintenance of regional Parent Support Groups (PSGs). In a Ugandan project, a total so far of 1561 parents have been ‘active members’ of PSGs, meaning they attend at least 6 meetings a year. Of these, 133 have reported actively advocating for the rights of children with disabilities beyond the school level PSG structures. This is an encouraging sign that parents of children with disabilities are internalising the rights-based approach and are going on to demand these rights for their children. This includes PSG members advocating in churches and community meetings. This has led to wider unintended positive results. For instance, in Adjumani district, some PSG members also sit on the Local Council and PTA, whereas in Lira district, some parents are members of Lira District Disabled Women Association (LIDDWA); using these mechanisms to advocate for further change.
Able Child Africa is pleased with the results achieved and is using the learnings from these achievements to continue striving for wider inclusion of children with disabilities in our other work. Using the child-to-child approach has proven itself to be highly efficient at effecting real change, not just in the enrolment of children with disabilities, but in creating sustainable change in communities, school structures and at a national level. As such, Able Child Africa continues to support and design projects with this proven methodology in mind and can share data on these to support other organisations interested in achieving similar successes.