Empowering Disabled Youths to Gain Access to an Education in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Background

Disabled children, youths and their parents in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia and Uzbekistan face daily discrimination and attitudinal and physical barriers to an adequate education: 1) schools are inaccessible; 2) children, especially those with developmental disabilities, are often classified as "un-educable;" 3) the "home schooling program" for disabled children is highly inferior to school classes; 4) for disabled students who attend university, no additional services or assistance are available; 5) the majority of teachers and administrators in schools and universities have little or no exposure to disability issues; 6) there is little or no accessible transportation; and 7) many parents of non-disabled children are resistant to their children studying with disabled children.

Achieving effective social advocacy with Disabled Youth Activist (DYA) teams

Since 1997, WID, Perspektiva , and 10 regional disability NGOs have been collaborating together to create an effective model for training disabled Russian youths as disability awareness educators and disability rights activists working for community-based social change. In 10 regions over the last four years, WID and Perspektiva have proven that disabled youth who have participated in their advocacy and youth empowerment projects have the necessary idealism and energy to succeed in the overwhelming task of changing the current environment of legal, physical and attitudinal barriers which limit the full community participation of disabled people in Russia.

The World Institute on Disability and Perspektiva have jointly decided to focus on one major human-rights issue - one which is critical for the future success of disabled adults and children in Russia (Siberia), Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Uzbekistan - Access to an Equal Education.

Two New Projects

(1) In July 2003, WID, Perspektiva and four other Disability NGOs received three years of funding by USAID to improve access to inclusive education for children and young adults with disabilities. The Partners believe that we have satisfactorily developed the skills and self-confidence of the Disabled Youth Activist teams in these four cities to advocate for the human and legal rights of disabled children and youths who want to receive an appropriate and equal education in the Russian educational system.

The Protection of the Human and Legal Rights of Russians with Disabilities: Access to Education Project will assist USAID, Russian government policy-makers and disability NGOs to ensure that human rights, civil society, and education becomes more accessible to people with physical and mental disabilities in Russia. Perspektiva, WID and its NGO partners will jointly create a model, multi-regional legal advocacy network, that works in partnership with community coalitions to promote and defend the human and legal rights of disabled children and adults to an equal education. WID and Perspektiva believe that essential advocacy tools are partnerships/coalitions with government agencies, educational institutions, parents' groups and other disability NGOs in their communities, which can advocate for greater access to education for disabled children and youths. Through organizational strengthening and human-rights/legal advocacy training of the Down's Syndrome Association of parent organizations and other disability and parents' NGOs, this Project will demonstrate that legal and civic coalitions and networks can successfully legislate, enforce and defend human and legal rights to an education in Russia.

(2) In November 2003, WID, Perspektiva and10 Disability NGOs in 4 countries, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia (Siberia) and Uzbekistan, received funding by USAID to implement a new three-year project, The International Network of Disabled Youth Activist Teams Promote Equal Access to Education . Project partners will empower disabled youths, parents and other members of the community in 4 countries to challenge discrimination against persons with disabilities in their communities and to advocate for the elimination of the social and physical infrastructure barriers to an equal education faced by young disabled people. The Project partners will provide 10 Disabled Youth Activist Teams in four countries with the skills and practical experience to become more effective disability advocates and leaders in their communities as they learn to mobilize and train other youths, negotiate professional partnerships, form and lead a community wide coalition, collaborate with local media professionals, create tangible social/community changes, make public presentations, and educate government representatives.

Disability Film Festivals as Public Education

The Project partners propose to utilize Disability Film Festivals to introduce the general public in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia and Uzbekistan to the viewpoint of disabled individuals as normal people who have equal rights and as contributing members of the community. Perspektiva and WID will host the 2 nd International Disability Film Festival in Moscow, after which each of the 10 DYA Teams, will host in their cities, a Best of Festival showcase of Disability Films in order to provide the public, parents, disabled children and youths with their first wide exposure to films about people with a variety of disabilities who are positively contributing and participating in society. DYA Teams will also lead public education activities in the schools to raise awareness about Access to Education issues, and they will hold trainings for government officials, educators, media and legal professionals to raise their understanding of the need for inclusive education practices. The DYAs will collaborate with media professionals to produce PSAs and videos about disability issues and Access to Education that reflect the unique circumstances of local conditions, laws, attitudes, and most importantly, cultural identity. Finally, they will provide awareness trainings to 2000 children and teachers in mainstream schools about inclusive education.

Reduce Isolation and Increase Sharing of Information

A key goal of this project is decrease international isolation and to increase the exchange of information amongst Disability NGOs in the New Independent States. The Russia-based Independent Living Network of Disabled Youth Activists will share their three years of expertise as social advocates, trainers and community leaders with the five new teams of DYAs. The new DYA teams will share information internationally about their countries and Access to Education experiences by writing 30 current events articles for Disability World, now visited worldwide by 35,000 persons a month. Members of the disability community throughout Russia will learn about disability issues in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Uzbekistan through Perspektiva's newsletter and website, both of which will be expanded to contain information about project activities and all Project outputs and accomplishments.

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