active· Health

Unlocking doors to basic health and education for children with Sensory disabilities in Bara and Parsa districts of Nepal

In Nepal children are not screened for visual or hearing impairments and knowledge of eye- and ear health is generally poor. Having a disability is still greatly stigmatised. Although the majority of children in Nepal have access to education, children with disabilties (CwD) are mostly excluded from it, which is a major risk for marginalisation. The project is a follow-up of a 2-year pilot in Bara district (2017-18), which will be extended in Bara and Parsa. The aim is to increase the enrollment of 3 to 14-year-old children with vision or hearing impairment in public schools. Districts have high rates of poverty and school attendance is very low. Also the human right's of CwD's are largely violated. The majority of pupils are boys, therefore, the project promotes girls' right to education. The project will educate female community health volunteers (FCHVs) to identify children with vision or hearing issues. The children identified through screening are examined at Eye & Ear Camps to diagnose the impairments found. It is estimated that the most of these impairments can be easily cured with simple treatments. Children with a severe visual or hearing disability will undergo a 4-6 month rehabilitation to enable life outside home and attending school. Awareness raising campaigns regarding eye- and ear health, as well as rights of persons with disabilities (PwD), will be organised among local citizens during the camps. Advocacy on inclusive education and human rights of CwD will be promoted. Eye & ear care and rehabilitation centers will be established in Bara. The local project partner is B. P. Eye Foundation (BPEF), that has 3 decades of experience in rehabilitation of CwDs and training of ophtalmologists and optometrists. For improved access to treatment and rehabilitation and to increase awareness on human rights, gender equality and inclusive education the project will strengthen the collaboration with other NGO's: IMPACT Nepal, Nepal Association for the Welfare of the Blind, Nepal Apanga Sewa sangh Bara and Loo Niva. A referral system will be developed with Patan CBR, to reach a larger scale of PwD's. In Finland we will collaborate with Interpedia ry.