Inclusion

One of our top priorities is to help enable people with disabilities to live with their families and in their communities as full citizens with access to equal opportunities. To do so, our teams work to limit environmental, physical and social barriers so that people with disabilities can fully participate in the life of their communities. One approach is to establish networks of local associations and institutions who will promote the rights and access of people with disabilities to social, educational, professional, political and cultural activities at the local and national levels. In Nicaragua for example, Handicap International implemented two community projects in neighbourhoods that were created by displaced populations (establishment of committees for the construction of a school, providing a household water supply system, improving the evacuation systems for polluted water, etc.). .

Successful income-generating activities improve the dignity of people with disabilities in the eyes of their family and community. Handicap International facilitates the professional and economic integration of people with disabilities – who are often marginalized and lacking resources – in order to improve their household income. We support collective income-generating projects (farming activities, handicrafts, etc.) and facilitate access to microfinance institutions for vulnerable groups.

Handicap International believes that access to education is directly related to social integration. Our association supports a number of initiatives in this area, including assistance in curriculum reform to institutions and professionals in the field of formal education. A number of our projects focus on making regular schools inclusive so that children with disabilities – who are often excluded as a result of their disabilities and cultural attitudes - receive equal access to education. We also work in the field of informal education by contributing to the diversification and accessibility of adult and youth literacy initiatives, professional training programmes, and socio-cultural activities.