EFA-VI Update

home home EFA-VI Update

EFA-VI Campaign History and Current Status

The Education for All Children with Visual Impairment (EFA-VI) is a global campaign and program of the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI), acting in partnership with the World Blind Union (WBU), to ensure that all girls and boys with blindness and low vision enjoy the right to education. The development of the EFA-VI Campaign can be analysed in terms of the following 4 stages:

Conceptualization Stage (2003 to 2006): When the campaign was conceived, Global Task Force formed, draft Business Plan developed and the Campaign launched at the 12th World Conference of ICEVI held in Kuala Lumpur in 2006.

Experimentation Phase (2007 to 2011):

When ICEVI introduced the campaign in 12 focus countries which resulted in the development of good practices that could be emulated in other countries.

Consolidation Phase (2012 – 2013):

Which is characterised by ICEVI doing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis to determine the strengths and limitations of the campaign?

Expansion Phase (from 2014 onwards):

When ICEVI is expected to strengthen its regions to collaborate with international agencies, larger initiatives on Education For All, INGDOs, UN Bodies, etc., to strengthen the advocacy front and also actively work with the Governments, local NGOs, organisations of Blind people etc., to facilitate quality education for children with visual impairment.

The EFA-VI is being implemented in 24 participating countries including Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Guatemala, Ghana, Honduras, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Paraguay, Palestine, Swaziland, Uganda and Vietnam. The December 2014 data from 18 countries reveal that 105,472 additional children with visual impairment have been enrolled in schools since the inception of the campaign. ICEVI acknowledges that the additional enrolment is also due to the proactive policies of local governments, lobbying by our international partners and involvement of the local DPOs and NGOs connected with the disability area in general and services for persons with visual impairment in particular.

Additional Enrolment of CWVI:

The campaign has contributed to the additional enrolment of children with visual impairment in schools. The following table describes the country wise data on additional enrolment since inception of the programme.

S.
No.
Country Students Enrolled from Initiation till 2014
1 Dominican Republic 1702
2 Ecuador 3617
3 El Salvador 741
4 Ethiopia 14767
5 Fiji 20
6 Guatemala 8198
7 Honduras 794
8 Mozambique 676
9 Nepal 4819
10 Nicaragua 15432
11 Pakistan 1710
12 Palestine 3230
13 Paraguay 1420
14 Uganda 283
15 Vietnam 43112
16 Kenya 3635
17 Burkina Faso 415
18 Ghana 901
Total 105472

Screening and Capacity Building Programmes:

Capacity Building Programmes were organized on various themes such as Low Vision, Early Detection and Assessment, Adapted Learning Materials, Abacus, Braille, Education of MDVI, Inclusive Education, Visual Stimulation, Orientation and Mobility, Child Protection Policies, Role of Parents in Education of Children with Visual Impairment, Activities of Daily Living etc. Screening of children was also conducted and optical devices were provided. The country wise details of the beneficiaries are given in the following table.

S.
No.
Country Students Teachers Parents
1 Bolivia 435 64 21
2 Dominican Republic 645 1666 1464
3 Ecuador 12078 39033 22505
4 El Salvador 61 404 577
5 Guatemala 9161 394 636
6 Honduras 1682 1265 193
7 Nicaragua 367 473 2181
8 Paraguay 4286 2115 729
9 Nepal 81 104 0
10 Pakistan 200 253 215
11 Bhutan 0 16 0
12 Sri Lanka 0 2 0
13 India 0 245 0
14 Palestine 0 30 0
15 Bangladesh 0 152 0
16 Vietnam 0 10035 100
17 Ethiopia 0 50 60
18 Ghana 0 12 98
19 Mozambique 0 114 254
20 Uganda 45 21 0
21 Swaziland 0 1 0
22 Kenya 45 79 51
23 Malawi 37 11 26
24 Burkina Faso 0 0 3
25 Philippines 11 443 300
26 Thailand 240 2302 591
27 Cambodia 2109 263 0
650 Programmes 31483 59547 30004
Grand Total 121034

In Ecuador, around 4 lakh school students were screened in 14 provinces and more than 22 thousand students were provided with needed optical devices. In summary, more than 650 programmes were conducted and around 1 lakh 20 thousand students, teachers and parents have been benefited from the EFA-VI global campaign. The campaign has demonstrated that education for all initiative will become a reality when children with disabilities in general and children with visual impairment in particular are included in the mainstream education system.