Welcome to BEC!
Founded in 1982 and a co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, Humanity & Inclusion (HI), formerly named Handicap International, is an independent and impartial organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict, and disaster. HI works alongside people with disabilities and individuals living in situations of extreme hardship, taking action and bearing witness in order to respond to their essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote respect for their dignity and fundamental rights. Since HI was founded in 1982, our work has benefited tens of millions of people worldwide. In 2022, we ran 466 projects in 60 countries.
Humanity & Inclusion is a federation implementing projects in over 60 countries with eight national associations in Belgium, France, the UK, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the USA and Canada. Inclusive education (IE) is a core part of HI’s global strategy (2016-2025) which is to promote access to services (mainstream or specific) and to promote the social participation and equal opportunities of people with disabilities and vulnerable populations in emergency, post-emergency and development contexts.
Humanity & Inclusion has been working in the field of education for more than 20 years and collaborates with education, social and healthcare partners to ensure quality inclusive education for children with disabilities primarily in the state formal education system. We are currently implementing more than 60 education projects in 27 countries across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Since 2015, Inclusive Education in Emergencies (IEiE) has been a sub-sector within HI’s IE programming, growing to a portfolio of 15 IEiE projects in 14 countries.
A core strength of HI’s operating model is our qualified, dedicated and skilled teams in-country, technically supported by experts in HI’s headquarters, and close partnerships with local implementing partners including Organizations of People with Disabilities (OPDs). In addition, HI is a recognized actor on the international scene: HI is part of different education networks, including the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) international and various national branches (Send My Friend (UK), Coalition Education (France), Educaid (Belgium) and GCE-US the International Network for EiE (INEE), Educaid, EENET and IDDC inclusive education working groups. Through our membership to IDDC we are also directly involved in the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) network and specifically the Inclusive Education working group, as co-chair representing the IDDC network. Our membership in these networks is helping to raise the issue of disability inclusive education within the wider mainstream education sector and the wider disability sector.
During the recent years, HI has been involved in several important events for inclusive education, such as taking part in the UNESCO Conference in Columbia to celebrate 25 years since the first Salamanca statement on inclusive education ( 2019) ,helping to shape the recommendations for the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report on inclusion in education (2020), the UN Transforming Education Summit (2022), and inputting into the agenda and commitments for the Global Disability Summit (2018 and 2022) . HI has also been involved in drafting various key chapters and statements around Inclusive Education for children with disabilities, for example in relation to the HLPF reviewing SDG 4.
Learn more about Humanity & Inclusion at www.hi-us.org.