Children with disabilities are being systemically excluded from education in crisis situations.

Humanitarian organisations don’t understand the barriers that children with disabilities face, which means they continue to be left out of education in emergencies (EiE) programming.

This report documents barriers that children with disabilities face accessing education in a crisis, and their calls for change – in their own words.

About the Report

This report is about how displacement impacts access to education for children with disabilities, and how governments and humanitarian organisations can remove barriers to EiE.

This report was created based on project work in conflict-affected regions in Colombia and Niger.

The experiences of children with disabilities and their family members were collected through interviews in Norte de Santander, Arauca, and Chocó in Colombia, and Maradi and Tillabéri in Niger.

The report shares trends and anonymised stories and quotes from children with disabilities and their families who participated in the interviews.

This work was done by Inclusion International, the International Disability Alliance, Asdown Colombia, and the Fédération Nigérienne des Personnes Handicapées. The work was funded by Education Cannot Wait (ECW).

Key Findings

Children and families shared three key trends that frame their experience of displacement:

  • Loss and disruption are heightened for families with a child with a disability.
  • Fear and safety concerns dominate the experiences of daily life.
  • Education is a lifeline for children with disabilities living through emergencies.

Even though education can be a sanctuary for children with disabilities living through an emergency, they are often excluded from accessing education in emergencies (EiE). They report that this exclusion happens in the enrolment process, on the journey to school, and in the classroom.

The report documents the barriers that displaced children with disabilities and their families face trying to access education in emergencies, including:

  • Difficulty navigating new systems and rules, including discriminatory enrolment policies
  • Financial barriers to access, including requiring families to pay out-of-pocket for their child’s support in the classroom
  • Inaccessible spaces, poor infrastructure, unsafe journeys to school, and other physical accessibility barriers
  • Being present in the classroom without learning or being included, as a result of poor teacher training or a lack of accessible and inclusive resources
  • Discrimination and stigma on the journey to school and at school – from peers, teachers, and others in the community
  • Families being forced to fill gaps in support and service provision, without any meaningful support for families themselves

Children with disabilities and their family members made 6 recommendations for the systemic change needed for education in emergencies can better include them:

  1. Train teachers and school staff on how to adopt inclusive practices
  2. Treat families as a core partner, and provide them with real support
  3. Invest in inclusion
  4. Strengthen schools by strengthening communities
  5. Prioritise understanding the needs of children with disabilities and their families in data collection
  6. Coordinate more effectively, including with Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs)

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