Community Services to Vulnerable Groups: Expanding Participation of People with Disabilities in Belarus Quarterly Report April-June 2014

The project has three main objectives: building the organizational, networking, and advocacy capacity of grassroots organizations; supporting advocacy efforts by people with disabilities to promote inclusion; and supporting the introduction and development of inclusive education of children and young people with disabilities. The project was implemented according to its plan and budget during the reporting period of April 1 to June 30, 2014. ChildFund continued its efforts in raising awareness and disseminating knowledge about inclusive education among key community groups, including parents, education authorities, teachers, parents' associations, and youth. The project supported 15 advocacy efforts by people with disabilities grassroots organizations that promote inclusion, using various methods and tools such as DPOs' network development, photo exhibitions, presentations at conferences, sensitization workshops, and articles in newspapers and magazines. Parents play a key role in the promotion of inclusive education and inclusive society. Three alumni of the Leadership for Parents of Children with Disabilities course completed in the previous quarter organized three follow-up events applying acquired knowledge and competencies to promote inclusion. ChildFund supported these events, as they are crucial to attaining sustainability. One of the main highlights of this quarter was the continued effort undertaken by ChildFund and its partners to establish a long-term partnership with national retraining institutes and universities. ChildFund, in partnership with Mogilev Retraining Institute and Baranovichi University, supported two training sessions for education authorities, training 52 education authorities representing 48 kindergartens and secondary schools. This achievement exceeded the annual target of 30 by 470%. The project also demonstrated increased awareness about networking and cooperation among partner DPOs. During the working meeting "Building DPOs' Alliance for Inclusive Education," they demonstrated eagerness to develop a DPO network and together attain results in the area of inclusion. One sub-grant was successfully completed this quarter in Mozyr, and a new sub-grant for the creation of the Resource Center on Inclusive Education was awarded. The project faced several challenges, including the growing demand for the National Trainers course and the need for inclusive education resources such as books, videos, practical manuals, and methodological recommendations. ChildFund's analysis found that resources are spread among different organizations, experts, and DPOs' websites, with a limited proportion of resources in Russian. To address this issue, ChildFund decided to create a resource library on inclusion with videos, books, etc., that can promote inclusion in an easy and interesting way and make the library available for public use. The project has shifted suspicious attitudes of DPOs toward networking and cooperation, providing opportunities to share experience and discuss common problems between DPOs. The DPO participants of the meeting "Building DPOs' Alliance for Inclusive Education" demonstrated eagerness to develop a network and, together, attain results in the area of inclusion. They no longer see each other as competitors but as partners working towards a common goal of promoting inclusion.