TOGETHER Empowers Children With Disabilities and Families in Hard-To-Reach Rural Areas in Sri Lanka
- by Himangi Jayasundere
- / Member Spotlight
Nearly 3,000 children and adults with disabilities, and 3,000 family members of children with disabilities in the rural areas of Anuradhapura, Trincomalee, Matale, Nuwara Eliya and Puttalam districts in Sri Lanka were reached through the European Union-funded TOGETHER project, which concluded in December 2017. Assistive devices worth 11.7 million rupees (US$184,000) were also provided to children with disabilities. The project was implemented by ChildFund together with its partnering civil society organizations in the five selected districts and by the Department of Social Services.
The key focus of the project was building inclusion and promoting equal access to services for children with disability. To achieve this, ChildFund worked together with key stakeholders, such as civil society organizations and local administrative structures, to empower children with disabilities within society.
Through a series of technical trainings and awareness creation programs, the project strived to reach its overall objective of increasing the ability of civil society organizations and local authorities to serve as legitimate and effective partners in the development of Sri Lanka’s social service delivery system, and strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations to include and represent children with disability in the formation and implementation of plans for quality social development programs and services.
EU TOGETHER contributed to the capacity building of civil society organizations and local authorities at divisional and district level, and strengthening community-based rehabilitation self-help groups. In some areas this led to disability self-help groups self-starting new livelihood activities, such as sewing and food catering. The project used the Key Informant Methodology, an innovative social mobilization strategy that enables community-based diagnosis, treatment and provision of assistive devices to reach children with disability in hard to reach regional and rural areas.
The project also linked civil society organizations and local administrative authorities, as well as health and education authorities, in increasing awareness about available mechanisms and bringing about necessary services for children with disabilities through a series of medical camps and in some areas special needs education centers.
Read our blog on this project.
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For more information contact:
Himangi Jayasundere, Communications Officer, ChildFund Sri Lanka,
Mobile: +94 77 335 2454 or Email
Or
Katherine Manik, Country Director
Mobile: +94 77 365 1575 or Email
