Search results

Ahmad is eight years old. He was born with spina bifida, a condition where the spine does not develop properly, and which prevents him from walking. He arrived in the Azraq camp, northern Jordan, with his family in November 2015. To improve his quality of life and his mobility he is being supported by one of Handicap International’s teams*.

Handicap International's response to the Syria crisis, which began five years ago, has become the biggest humanitarian response in the organisation's history. More than 600,000 people have been supported by our teams of physiotherapists, orthopaedic technicians, social workers, logistics officers and many others. Here, four of Handicap International's 370 strong team explain what their roles mean to them.

Press release | London, 3rd February 2016, 09:00 GMT.

Download (pdf, 2.70 MB)

Abdel Rahman, 13, has muscular dystrophy. At the end of 2015, he and his family arrived in Azraq camp, Jordan, where he is being supported by a Handicap International team*. Abdel's physiotherapy sessions are helping him adapt to life in the camp.

Dalal is seven-years-old. Born with cerebral palsy, which affects her speech and mobility, she arrived in Lebanon with her family in March 2012. Today, one of Handicap International’s teams has brought her a wheelchair so she can move around more easily. With help from Handicap International* and her family, Dalal was able to leave her family’s apartment for the first time in eighteen months.

Injured in an air strike, Bushra receives help from Handicap International’s team in one of several hospitals in Yemen where we provide support to victims of the conflict.

The Ubuntu Care¹ project combats sexual violence against children, particularly children with disabilities, in Kenya, Burundi and Rwanda. Launched in November 2012, it has already provided care and treatment to 600 child victims of sexual violence. Regional coordinator Sofia Hedjam describes the programme and its achievements.

Abdallah, 11, was injured in a bombing raid in Syria. He is now paraplegic and lives with his mother, brothers and sisters in a shelter for refugees in Lebanon. Since he arrived in the Beqaa Valley in September 2015, he has been supported by a Handicap International team* who are helping him to gradually recover and meet the new challenges he is facing.

The fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and Libya’s descent into chaos has led to a proliferation of arms and an escalation in fighting between militia groups. In response, Handicap International is providing the population with risk education on firearms, mines and explosive remnants of war. Over the last four years, the organisation has educated 120,000 people at greatest risk from these weapons, most of them children.

South Sudan’s brutal two-year civil war is forcing an increasing number of civilians, who are often the victims of violence, to flee their homes. Over two million people have been internally displaced or taken refuge in a neighbouring country since the start of the conflict. Present in South Sudan since 2006, Handicap International is providing humanitarian response to people caught up in the fighting, particularly in the field of health.

A hospital supported by humanitarian organisation Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) in Marat al-Numan, 280 kilometres to the north of Damascus, was destroyed in an air strike on Monday 15th February. Seven people were killed in the attack and dozens injured.

Malnutrition hampers children’s physical and mental development, leaving them in an extremely fragile state of health. Handicap International is responding to the particularly acute problem in the Sahel. Over the next two years, the organisation intends to limit the impact of malnutrition in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, to ensure that children in the Sahel can grow up in the best possible health.

Since 2014, Handicap International has been running an inclusive education project in Senegal in the regions of Dakar and Ziguinchor. One of the project’s flagship initiatives is to provide medical consultations in primary schools for the early screening of pathologies which might lead to a delay in learning or even to the affected children dropping out of education. Adama Awa Ba, 12 years old, is one of the programme’s first beneficiaries.