Africa-EU Summit Science Dialogue Events

Using Assistive Technology to Promote Inclusion for People with Disability through Collaboration and Partnership between Europe, Africa, and the United States.

One billion people, or 15% of the world’s population, experience forms of disabilities. Among those, one-fifth of the estimated global total, or between 110 million and 190 million people, experience significant disabilities. Disability prevalence is even higher for developing countries and those with disabilities are more likely to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes such as less education, poorer health and employment outcomes, and higher poverty rates.

The European Commission’s European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 had identified social exclusion as one of the grand challenges that people with disabilities in Europe are facing. People with disabilities are the most disadvantaged in society exacerbating many inequity issues. For instance, people with disabilities may have limited access to basic education, which can largely reduce their chances to obtain meaningful and gainful employment as adults. Globally, the employment rates of people with disabilities is significantly lower than their peers without disabilities. In addition to the socio-economic implications, social exclusion impacts negatively on self-esteem, mental health and quality of life. Thus, social Inclusion is an important element of well-being for people with disabilities and a key component of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Research has highlighted that social inclusion can be promoted through access to education and employment.

Research has also demonstrated that assistive technology (AT) can be a meaningful way to improve access to education, employment and independence among people with disabilities. AT, include both high-end and low-end devices, equipment and systems, apps and other products. While AT can be useful in improving the life of people with disabilities, the World Health Organization have identified that only 10% of the population in need of AT products have access to them.

While AT provision varies across countries, the intent to support people with disabilities should be a global priority with a focus on removing barriers and providing facilitators to independent living, community participation, and transition from education to employment settings. The rapid pace of technological advancement can leave behind the most vulnerable in society especially those with disabilities. There are low rates of AT adoption by service providers, educators, employers and policymakers as well as high rates of AT abandonment. Building global capacity for AT provision and applications will provide a unique opportunity to support independence and inclusion for people with disabilities through the use of AT.

In collaboration with different stakeholders and through the voices of researchers, practitioners, individuals with disabilities, and caregivers, we will highlight the critical role of partnerships between Europe, the US and Africa in increasing inclusion and improving lives for people with disabilities. Using an international project, we will describe the challenges faced by inclusive education programs for transition-age students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Mali and Malawi. We will also share innovative strategies in improving the situations by capacity building as well as guidelines and program development. Finally, we will discuss the importance of promoting interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations between all stakeholders and placing the person with a disability at the centre of the program and resources development, deployment and dissemination