Young Volunteers as Agents for Social Inclusion

Unidos trains young people as volunteers – called "Allies" –, who then accompany people with disabilities to participate in the various Unidos social programmes. Through social franchising the programme has been rolled-out to six cities across the country, supporting 1,877 people with disabilities in 2017.

Problems Targeted

National surveys have shown that people with disabilities in Mexico experience high levels of discrimination and exclusion and a lack of recognition of their rights.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

Unidos runs programmes six times a year and has four key programmes of different durations that bring people together in social settings. These include weekend trips within Mexico for participants aged 16 and over, summer camp activities for children and young people of various ages, and regular evening activities for smaller groups. The Allies, who are volunteers aged 15 to 25, support all these activities and attend disability awareness training prior to participating in the programmes. Training addresses such issues as empathy, disability awareness, and methods of communicating with people with sensory, physical, and intellectual disabilities. Unidos supports over 1,500 people with disabilities each year across six locations in Mexico. In its ongoing evaluations, it has found that parents of young people with disabilities who participate in the programmes say their children are more independent, have greater self-esteem, and enjoy a better sense of security. Volunteers without disabilities who attend the training and the social programmes also benefit. For example, nearly all the parents of volunteers say their children have become even more empathetic as a result.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

Approximately half of Unidos’ revenue comes from services and workshops, for which participants pay a fee determined by their economic circumstances. Corporate and private funding accounts for 35 per cent, and the rest comes from state and federal government. The six local Unidos teams raise their own funds and pay a fee back to Unidos Nacional, which covers training, human resources, and other functions. Unidos has developed a standardized programme manual to support replication through a social franchise model. The national Unidos team shares best practice among the local teams and offers supervision to support compliance with the organization’s standards and philosophy. In addition, Unidos has replicated the model in Chile through the Teletón Foundation, and is currently considering ways to make the replication process more efficient.

Pictures

Real allies!

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