Search results

Soumana Almouner Touré has worked for Handicap International since 2013. Originally from Gao, he coordinates the ESSPOIR project’s activities in Mali. He talked to us about the project, which helps malnourished children recover from developmental delays in three West African countries - Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger - by providing them with physiotherapy and teaching parents to stimulate their children.

Press release | London, 28th September 2016, 10:00 GMT

Handicap International is taking part in the Meeting of the First Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations (disarmament and international security) in October 2016. Anne Héry, head of advocacy at Handicap International, explains why this meeting is important and the actions taken by the organisation to end the bombing of civilians.

The United Nations General Assembly hosts a high-level meeting in New York on Monday 19th September to address large movements of refugees and migrants. According to the UNHCR[1], more than 65 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution or armed violence. Camille Gosselin, Handicap International’s humanitarian advocacy manager, explains the issues at stake in the meeting.

In June 2016, a fire destroyed an orthopaedic centre in the town of Tenkodogo, in the centre of Burkina Faso. Part of the local hospital, it provided services to some 200 people a year.

Since June 2016, Handicap International and its local partner, AFRILAM, have cleared 92,000 square metres of land of mines and explosive remnants of war. The land, near Kisangani in northeast DR Congo, is equivalent to 15 football pitches. More than 4,000 people will benefit directly from the operation, which has already neutralised six anti-personnel landmines.

In preparation for the Paralympic Games, which recently kicked off in Rio, Brazil, Handicap International presented racing wheelchairs to disabled Congolese athletes taking part in the competition. The Chair of the National Paralympic Committee of the Democratic Republic of Congo congratulated the organisation on its initiative at the presentation ceremony.

President Barack Obama has doubled U.S. funding to clear the bombs and munitions polluting Laos. The funding increases to $90m over three years and will be spent on weapons clearance in a country that suffered near incessant U.S. bombing campaigns in the 1960s and 1970s

The Cluster Munition Monitor releases it's seventh annual report on 1st September 2016. Handicap International is a major contributor to the report, which is the most authoritative set of data on cluster munitions worldwide. In this interview Anne Héry, Head of Advocacy at Handicap International, talks about the The Monitor, why it is so important and what it tells us about these barbaric weapons in 2016.

Press release | London, 1st September 2016, 09:00 GMT

Every year, more than 250,000 people around the world sustain spinal cord injuries, mainly as a result of road accidents, falls or acts of violence. These injuries often cause disabilities. For more than 25 years, Handicap International, in conjunction with the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCOS), has provided quality rehabilitation care to injured people, and supported their inclusion in society and work. The 5th September is International Spinal Cord Injury Day.

Press release | London, 30th August 2016, 09:00 GMT

Handicap International has been working in Libya since 2011. Due to the country’s extreme political and security instability the organisation relocated its operation to Tunis in July 2014. Anne Barthès who has been leading the mission since February 2016, reflects on the programmes currently being run by Handicap International, five years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

In emergency situations, many vulnerable people do not get sufficient assistance, either because of their disability or their isolation. On World Humanitarian Day, Handicap International is reaffirming its commitment to make humanitarian aid accessible to every person affected by a crisis.

Eleven people were killed and a dozen injured on Monday 15th August in an airstrike on a hospital supported by Médecins sans Frontières in the city of Abs, in Hajja province, northern Yemen. The attack came two days after an airstrike on a school in the province of Sadaa, which claimed the lives of ten children. Handicap International and five other humanitarian organisations are demanding an independent investigation into the attacks. Handicap International has strongly condemned these airstrikes and is calling on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law.