Families and Youth

ICEVI believes families and young people are at the heart of transforming education for learners with visual impairment—including those with blindness, low vision, deafblindness, and multiple and additional disabilities.

Across the world, our network includes diverse voices from families and youth whose experiences and insights help us understand the real challenges—and real solutions—that shape children’s lives. Families and young people bring unique perspectives from their own communities, helping ICEVI see how barriers like distance to accessible schools, lack of trained teachers or accessible materials, digital divides, gender bias, cultural norms, limited mobility support, and crises such as conflict, displacement, and climate change affect learners with visual impairment differently in every country and region.

Your voice matters. Global reports such as UNICEF’s Global Research Agenda for Children with Disabilities (2023) and UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report (2023) emphasize that families and youth must be part of designing education systems, shaping policies, and driving change. When families and young people speak up, they bring lived experience that makes policies more relevant, services more effective, and communities more inclusive.

When you join ICEVI, you become part of a community that listens and learns from one another. Insights from families and youth help guide teacher training, shape practical resources, and inform policies to ensure every learner with visual impairment can learn, belong, and thrive—not only in school, but in all aspects of life.
It’s not just about education—it’s about belonging, independence, and the right of every child to reach their potential.

Together, we’re building a future where learners with visual impairment are included in every classroom, community, and conversation about change.