Innovative Practice 2019 on Independent Living and Political Participation
Training Young Leaders in Accessibility and Inclusion
Name of Innovative Practice: | Accessibility Promotion Agents |
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Organisation: | Escola de Gente – Comunicação em Inclusão |
Country of Implementation | Brazil |
PROBLEMS TARGETED
Young people with and without disabilities often do not feel part of the same generation, and these divisions can lead to the exclusion of people with disabilities from the job market, culture participation and wider society.
SOLUTION, INNOVATION, AND IMPACT
The 45-hour training programme has seven modules on inclusion and diversity ethics, rights and employment, accessible communication, physical accessibility, sign language, audio description accessible culture. All learning materials and classes are fully accessible, so all young people can participate. The training is administered in cooperation with the Labour Prosecution Service, and all participants receive certificates when they complete the training to help with employability.
Following the training, young people become Accessibility Promotion Agents in their communities, facilitating the social, political and cultural participation of people with disabilities. Practical examples include accompanying someone who is deaf to a health centre appointment where no sign language interpreter is available, supporting someone who is blind to attend the theatre, or making suggestions to improve an office’s physical accessibility to support employees who use wheelchairs.
FUNDING, OUTLOOK AND TRANSFERABILITY
The project costs approximately $150,000 a year and is dependent on fundraising. In 2016 and 2017, the project was funded by Brazilian oil company Petrobras (96.5 per cent) and civil society organization Oi Futuro (3.5 per cent), linked to the telecommunications company Oi.
To date, the APA programme has been replicated in four favelas; and the inclusive workshops, a key element of the training, have been held some 400 times worldwide. Escola de Gente is considering two ways of replicating the practice even further: the team could directly train companies and organizations to transfer the model, or they could systematize the material to create an accessible manual and develop partnerships with other organizations to support implementation. Escola de Gente is also hoping to secure funding to undertake a formal evaluation of the programme.