News
Bridging the Gap organised an internal online session to present the human rights indicators on the CRPD developed by the first component of the project to Bridging the Gap II (BtG-II) partner countries: Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Paraguay and Sudan.
On 18 June, the National Union of Association of Women with Disability of Burkina Faso (UNAFEB) launched the project "Social Protection (Rights and Health Services) to girls and women with disabilities in the city of Ouagadougou and surroundings", supported by Bridging the Gap.
Nearly 1500 teachers in Ecuador participated in a course aiming to improve support for students with intellectual disabilities, organised by the Spanish Agency for Development Cooperation (AECID), the Ecuadorian Federation for the Support to Persons with Intellectual Disability, Cerebral Palsy, Autism and Down Syndrome (FEPAPDEM), and the Ministry of Education within the framework of Bridging the Gap project.
On 27 May, the Coalition of Associations of Persons with Disabilities (CNAPH), one of the three national organisations/federations, benefitting of the grants’ scheme for Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) of Bridging the Gap in Burkina Faso, launched the project "Promoting an inclusive development in the central region on the bases of article 4 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD)".
On 28th May, the European programmes of international cooperation Bridging the Gap, Eurosocial+ and SOCIEUX+ shared their work experiences for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Latin America at the webinar "Disability in bi-regional cooperation: The opportunity for a new normality, more fair for all", hosted by Grupo Social ONCE.
Until 30th June, Bridging the Gap will work together with the Paraguayan Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) that are part of the National Commission for the Rights of Persons with disabilities (CONADIS) in the development of a methodology to monitor the implementation of the public policy of response to the health emergency caused by COVID-19, implement this methodology and draft a technical report on the results of this research.
Despite the difficulties of the global health crisis caused by COVID-19, Bridging the Gap continues its work to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities among its partner agencies. The latest activity carried out in this regard was an inclusive and accessible communication training addressed to the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) staff.
The Communication and Mediation Centre for Deaf Persons in Ecuador (COSORI) will be strengthened from June onwards thanks to the support of Bridging the Gap, so that it can be available 24 hours a day to meet the high demand for this service caused by the COVID-19 health crisis.
After the adaptation of the easy-to-read COVID-19 Prevention Guidelines produced by the organisation Chosen Power (People First Hong Kong) into Amharic and Somali, a total of 2,500 copies have been printed and distributed among the offices of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) in Ethiopia so that they can be disseminated from there to all the persons who may need them.
In the framework of Bridging the Gap's COVID-19 contingency plan in Burkina Faso, 1000 washable and reusable masks were delivered to the project's partners' organisations of persons with disabilities on 13 May at an event held at the premises of the National Multisectoral Council for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COMUD/Handicap) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.