Latest news

The day after Nepal was hit by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Saturday 25 April, Wesley Pryor, Handicap International’s rehabilitation adviser, travelled to assess the situation in Gorkha, an isolated region very close to the epicentre. He travelled in conjunction with International Medical Corps.

Handicap International’s teams, already present and active on the ground in response to the disaster, will be joined from Monday by several emergency specialists, to evaluate and meet the immediate needs. The first aid distributions were already made on Saturday by the organisation, which is also providing care to injured people.

On Saturday morning, 25th April, a powerful earthquake struck Nepal. So far the disaster has killed more than 1,000 people. Nepal has declared a state of emergency, and Handicap International teams are already on the ground, delivering direct aid and evaluating the need for a large-scale emergency intervention.

Jehad is 24. She was evacuated from her home on the first day of Eid after a warning missile hit her neighbourhood, and she moved to her uncle’s house.

Despite the hopes raised by a sharp drop in the number of contaminations in January, the Ebola virus epidemic is not over yet. Bruno Leclercq, Handicap International’s Field Programme Director in Sierra Leone and Liberia, talked to us about the problems still facing the region and the exceptional commitment shown by the people of Sierra Leone.

Sumaira, 8 years old, was born with the congenital development disorder Spina Bifida . Despite her parents' best efforts to provide her with care, Sumaira is unable to stand up and walk unaided. Before she started receiving care from Handicap International, she was fully dependent on her parents for all her day-to-day needs.

Seng Ly, 52, lost the use of her legs in 1989 after she was hit by an anti-tank mine. At the time, she was living in a camp for Cambodian refugees in Thailand. More than twenty years on, Handicap International is still at her side. 

After recently returning from Sierra Leone, where she coordinated Handicap International’s emergency operations, Nathalie Derrien talks to us about her experiences and the situation in the country worst affected by the epidemic.

In the wake of the conflict in Iraq, more than 2 million Iraqis have left their homes and everything they own behind them. A large proportion has suffered physical and psychological violence. Over 900,000 of them have been displaced to Iraqi Kurdistan, notably in the governorates of Erbil, Dohuk and Sulaymaniyah. Olivia Nevissas is one of the staff members deployed by Handicap International to help the families made most vulnerable by the crisis.

Five years ago a serious fall changed Arumugam Pakkiyam’s life forever. Arumugam, now 60, was left paralysed.

Humanity & Inclusion helps hospitals in Vietnam to establish and improve rehabilitation units in order to enhance care for patients with brain lesions.

In this travelogue, Denis Ricca, the manager of Handicap International’s team of surveyors in Chad describes the challenge of identifying areas of land that are contaminated by explosive remnants of war. Denis talks through the team's activities during a 12-day visit, which included sessions to raise awareness in communities about the risks posed.
Decades of conflict have left a deadly legacy of landmines and other explosive remnants of war in Chad. In October 2014 Handicap International launched new activities to clear land of explosive weapons and help people and communities affected.

Adèle Bourdy, Head of Mission for Handicap International in the emergency context of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), describes the alarming humanitarian situation in the country.

Bruno Leclerc is Handicap International's Programme Director in Sierra Leone and Liberia. With a fall in the number of ebola cases, Bruno speaks about the current situation and his hopes for the future.

Handicap International is expanding its mine clearance activities in Laos to a fourth district.

Forty years after the end of the Vietnam war, cluster munitions and explosive remnants of war in Laos still claim an average of one victim per week. Handicap International has worked in the country since 1983 and is currently clearing mines in three districts, Nong, Sepone and Vilabuly, in the Savannakhet province in the east of Laos. In 2015 Phine will become the fourth district to benefit from demining.