Africa

What we do.

We have offices in Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, through which we deliver programmes around inclusive education, preventing gender based violence, equality for disabled women and girls, and supporting young disabled leaders.

We redirect funds towards organisations of people with disabilities, and disability rights activists to support and strengthen their work.

Advocating for inclusive education in Tanzania.

The Shule Bora project is designed to improve the quality, inclusiveness, and safety of learning for all girls and boys in government primary schools in Tanzania. Delivered in partnership with the Government of Tanzania, Shule Bora is putting in place lasting reforms that will enable every child to get the best start, to progress through primary and complete their education, giving them the opportunity to fulfil their potential and contribute to Tanzania’s growth and development.

The programme is funded by UK aid and running to 2027, Shule Bora operates at both a national level supporting the government’s education reform programme, and with local government and schools in nine of Tanzania’s regions to improve education. Shule Bora aims to reach 4 million children, half of whom are girls. Reform and innovation will be trialled and evaluated at local level so that proven best practices can be adopted across all primary schools in Tanzania.

ADD International works with organisations of disability activists. They go to the villages to raise awareness about disability rights. They advise the community not to hide disabled children away, but to send them to school instead. Parents are now starting to understand that children living with disabilities deserve an education.
Siporah, District Education Officer, Tanzania.

Shule Bora is focused on four outcomes:

Learning: All children are learning in school.
Teaching: UK aid supports the strengthening of Tanzania’s teaching workforce.
Inclusion: All children are in schools that are safe, provide an environment conducive to learning and that this enables children to complete primary education and progress to secondary education.
Systems building: UK aid supports government in strengthening the value for money of education provision at school, local and national level.

Supporting Young Leaders in Sudan.

In Sudan, the Young Leaders programme supports young disabled leaders to learn about, and advocate for, their rights. Through the initiative, young people learn skills like project management, monitoring and evaluation, and organising events, as well as studying disability law and using this knowledge to advocate for change.

The young leaders work together with disability rights organisations to better map the movement, collaborate and strengthen their work. Through this they learn about the different challenges faced by groups and activists and can use this information to advocate for disability justice.

It’s not just the practical skills I’ve learnt from the programme, I’ve learnt the spirit of a team working together, of co-operation and unity, I’ve learnt about other types of disability. It’s an amazing experience to understand other types of disability and know that as a community, we are a part of each other. The most important thing I have gained is the power to defend my rights as a person with a disability.
Elkhansa, Young Leader in Sudan.

The Young Leaders programme is also operating in Tanzania and Cambodia. You can read more about the project here.

Tackling Gender-Based Violence in Uganda.

In Uganda, ADD is running a project to tackle gender-based violence against disabled women and girls. The project takes a multi-strand approach to address the root causes, change opinions and advocate for inclusion in other services.

The team are coordinating with disability rights organisations to come together and share learnings. ADD has delivered a training to these organisations to support them in safely reporting and addressing incidents of gender based violence, and build systems to keep them safe.

This project has created a platform for women and girls with disabilities to understand and exercise their rights, they have gotten access to services from the mainstream gender-based violence service providers. The project has also supported organisations to strengthen their systems to be sensitive to gender-based violence and responsive to safeguarding.
Scovia, Country Lead, Uganda.

The team have worked with the media to train journalists in using appropriate language in the reporting of gender-based violence as part of the advocacy approach, and have appeared on radio talk shows in Uganda to share their message.

Importantly, they have also worked to influence and inform NGOs delivering programmes to address gender-based violence, to make sure they do not overlook disabled women in their approach.

Supporting Disability Rights Organisations and Activists.

Across Africa, we are supporting disability rights organisations and groups through financial grants, skills training and networking. We also support activists to implement the change they wish to see. Find out more about some of the organisations and activists we work with.