Our Why
70 million forgotten voices: a call to action for girls and children with disabilities
Across sub-Saharan Africa, a silent emergency unfolds - over 70 million children with disabilities are left behind. An additional 50 million girls are denied their fundamental right to education. These staggering numbers represent a generation left behind, denied access to healthcare, education, and opportunity. This systemic exclusion breeds devastating consequences.
Nearly 29 million children with disabilities live in Eastern and Southern Africa alone. Each of them – like every child in the world – has the right to be nurtured and supported through responsive care and education, to receive adequate nutrition and social protection, and to enjoy play and leisure time. Too often, however, such rights are denied. The reasons vary: They include stigma, lack of accessible services, institutionalization and physical barriers. But the consequences are sadly consistent. When marginalized from society, these children’s chances to survive and thrive are diminished, along with their prospects for a bright future.
Monitoring the inclusion of children with disabilities in development efforts has long been held back by the lack of reliable and comprehensive data.
Children with disabilities face poverty traps: denied education, they lack the skills for future employment. Violence becomes a grim reality, with these children four times more likely to experience physical or sexual abuse. The situation for girls with disabilities is even more dire, with a tenfold risk of gender-based violence. Many languish in institutions isolated from families, while those fortunate enough to reach schools often drop out due to stigma and lack of support.
Despite progress in education access, children with disabilities remain excluded. This broken promise has far-reaching implications. Without education, they are condemned to a life of financial hardship. The potential of future leaders and innovators lies dormant, buried beneath a system that fails to recognize their worth.
We can’t stand by while children with disabilities and girls are silenced and forgotten. Together, we can dismantle the barriers that hold them back. By our interventions in education, healthcare, and inclusive environments, we’re empowering them to reach their full potential. Their future, and the future of Africa, depends on it.
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