An Accessible Future for Persons with Disabilities

120 kilometers south of Kigali, in a remote part of Southern Rwanda’s Huye District, dl1b0245wb-iei-rwanda-1-900x1350 lies the G.S. Kabuga school.  

Warm sunshine—with the occasional drizzle of rain—greets students as they trickle into class on a Monday morning. Led by their class prefect and teacher, the kids assume their seats inside a spacious classroom with two large blackboards on opposing flanks. One learner, a wheelchair user, rolls up alongside a bench and shuffles in alongside a classmate. 

“Children with disabilities are just like other children,” remarks Brother Jovite Sindayigaya, headmaster at the school. “The country needs them and so does the world in general. I get happiness from seeing them succeed.” 

G.S. Kabuga is one of 3,388 schools in Rwanda that have benefitted from reconstruction and refurbishment efforts, funded by the government of Rwanda and the World Bank, with technical assistance provided by the Bank’s Inclusive Education Initiative. In the span of just one year, 22,505 classrooms across all 30 districts of Rwanda were built or refurbished with some accessibility features for learners with disabilities.

FULL ARTICLE

Economic inclusion programs: A springboard out of extreme poverty

 

As the world grapples with the pandemic, the new State of Economic Inclusion peileaderreport points to paths out of poverty for the poorest and most vulnerable.

For the first time in two decades, extreme poverty is rising around the world, as COVID-19 threatens to erode years of hard-won progress.   The World Bank estimates that the economic fallout from the pandemic may add as many as 150 million extreme poor by 2021. Women, children, displaced populations, and people with disabilities have been particularly hard hit.

Continue reading

Gains in Financial Inclusion, Gains for a Sustainable World

images.jpgMary Banda in Zambia runs a small restaurant in one of Lusaka’s oldest markets. Before she learned that financial services could make the way she did business easier, her profits were low. But today, her profits have increased, both because she banks her money and because she uses mobile money transfer services.

Using financial services has simplified managing her business and increased profits. And business proceeds now pay her children’s school fees.

Continue reading