Madagascar has subscribed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. There are large regional disparities in terms of access to education. 1.5 million school-age children are out of school, 11.3% of whom are disabled. Girls with disabilities are over-represented in educational delays and non-enrollment.

Among the 443 public primary schools in the Analamanga region, only one applies inclusive education, accessible to children with and without disabilities (Unicef 2012 survey). The offer of services in the educational field is not very diversified, its quality does not meet the needs of people with disabilities (PWD) affecting their basic needs and their participation in social life. The word "disability" does not appear in our Constitution.

The principles of equality before the law are not effective despite the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In legal terms, these people have equal rights with normal people. But in reality, these people are subject to various forms of exclusion. Our coalition has developed this project entitled "Support to the disability movement for the integration of an active and inclusive education for all children in Madagascar".

Our overall goal will contribute to the promotion of access to quality inclusive education, social participation and respect for the rights of children with disabilities by the end of 2023. This project aligns with the two priority action areas of the GPE (Strategic Plan 2025) inclusion and quality education. 

Our strategy is to support citizen groups to promote the participation of qualified civil society actors. We strengthen advocacy to build strong public education systems, advance the value of gender-sensitive inclusive education, and improve the accountability of governments to their citizens. We will adopt a supportive approach refocused on disadvantaged areas by promoting an equity lens aimed at reducing the most glaring disparities between regions, involving the Heads of Zones Administratives Pédagogiques (ZAP) and CSO representatives.

Our final beneficiaries are:

• teachers,
• FEFFI management committees,
• children and youth, especially girls and their families.

Our main targets are

• Government and Parliament
• Ministries of Education
• Donors,
• Decentralized communities

At the end of this project, we expect that ESH will no longer be a victim of exclusion: the Draft Amendment Decree N°2009/1147 on the General Policy of Inclusive Education will be ratified by the Parliament. Ministries involved in education will be committed to advancing the right to quality inclusive education at the national level and to collaborating with the Coalition to communicate IE concepts in Madagascar.

Donors will be more sensitive to the issue of HSE and the priority of support for Inclusive Education. From the Declaration of Human Rights to the Constitution of Madagascar, several national and international texts enshrine education as a fundamental right and therefore the state must provide free and compulsory quality education, especially for girls with disabilities.

The first phase of the project was implemented in 2020-2021 with support from Education Out Loud of 165.931 USD.