News
On the occasion of the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Annual General Meeting 2021, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Public Administration and Policy (FIIAPP) and the ONCE Social Group (ONCE) held a pre-meeting session on 26 February to briefly review their contribution to inclusive development so far, as well as to outline coordinated plans and strategies for the future.
The online course "Methodologies and educational planning for teachers with visual impairment", organised by the National Federation of the Blind of Ecuador (FENCE) and the Undersecretariat of Specialised and Inclusive Education of the Ministry of Education of Ecuador in the framework of Bridging the Gap project, was launched on Wednesday 17 February.
The General Coordinator of AECID in Paraguay, Fernando Rey, presented to the authorities of the Ministry of Education and Science (MEC) the materials developed within the framework of Bridging the Gap to mainstream inclusive education in the country at an event held on 9 February at the Centre for Production and Support for Inclusion (CEPAI) in Asunción (Paraguay) and organised by the Ministry's General Directorate of Inclusive Education.
On 27 and 28 January 2021, Bridging the Gap held in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) the fourth and fifth sessions of the Leadership Skills Program for Women with Disabilities, which aims to contribute to the empowerment of women with disabilities and to make the Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) gender-sensitive.
On 29 December 2020, the National Conference for the Validation of the 2021 - 2025 National Strategy for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SN - 3PH) and its Action Plan for 2021 - 2023 was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The event was organised by the National Multisectoral Council for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COMUD/H) in the context of its 2020 Annual Session.
Ethiopia celebrated the International Day of Persons with Disabilities from 25 to 27 December 2020 in the city of Bahir Dar at an event organised by the Federation of Ethiopian Associations of Persons with Disabilities (FEAPD), the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Amhara Regional Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs (BOLSA) with the support of Bridging the Gap. At the event, Bridging the Gap received two distinctions from the Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs of the Amhara Region, one for its work in promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the region and another for contributing to the organization of this celebration.
From 14-18 December, Bridging the Gap team in Ethiopia conducted a four-day Training of Facilitators (ToF) on disability mainstreaming for World Food Programme staff in Ethiopia to increase its capacity to deliver cascade Disability Equality Training (DET) in all WFP's areas.
The next National Population and Housing Census 2022 in Paraguay will include relevant, quality and disaggregated information on disability thanks to conceptual and methodological variants developed by the General Directorate of Statistics, Surveys and Censuses (DGEEC) in the framework of Bridging the Gap. These new variants recognise persons with disabilities as subjects of rights, and they will allow a more inclusive design, planning and implementation of public policies.
On 3 December, Bridging the Gap joined the celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPWD), which theme this year was "Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 World", through different activities around the world.
“Taking stock of the good practices of the project Bridging the Gap paves us the way for a decade for action towards sustainable development for and with persons with disabilities, in compliance…