Providing Inclusive Education in camps for internally displaced persons (IDP)

The project provides training for teachers, support for children and their families, and training for relief workers to identify disabilities and make their emergency services more inclusive. Since 2019, Light for the World has been working in partnership with relief agencies and NGOs in three camps in Southern Sudan.

Light for the World (LFTW), a global disability and development NGO based in Austria, launched a project in South Sudan in 2014 to make education accessible to children with disabilities in camps for internally displaced persons (IDP). The project provides training to teachers in the camps, supports children with disabilities and their families, and offers training to relief workers to identify disabilities and make their wider emergency response services more inclusive. As of 2019, LFTW is working in three camps in South Sudan in partnership with 16 relief organizations and NGOs.

Problems Targeted

Children with disabilities living in IDP camps are generally excluded from most health and education services due to a lack of trained professionals.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

LFTW works with local and international partners to build the capacity of existing education staff and systems in IDP camps to be inclusive. In partnership with local DPOs, teachers in IDP camps are trained in Inclusive Education and classroom management as well as in key skills, such as Braille and sign language. The training lasts 15 days and is followed by three months of on-the-job training. As of the end of 2019, 97 teachers working in IDP camps had been trained. A key focus of the project is identifying children with disabilities to support their access to rehabilitation and education services. Volunteers and service providers in the camps are trained to identify children with disabilities. The project provides adapted learning materials and assistive devices to children as needed, such as Braille materials and white canes. It can also organize medical referrals, as necessary. In 2019, LFTW is supporting 280 children in three camps. The project has influenced the Ministry of Education and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to ensure that their emergency education initiatives are delivered using inclusive methods.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

The project is funded by a grant from the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation, based in Italy. The project began in the Mahad camp, close to Juba, in South Sudan, and in 2019 it has been extended to two additional camps. Key to the successful replication of the programme is involvement of all relevant stakeholders in an IDP camp. LFTW has a developed a manual on Inclusive Education that it uses to train other organizations to train their teachers.

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