Child Law Update Workshop

On Friday and Saturday 8-9 May, TFD Network held a 2-day workshop designed to update representatives from the TFD member organizations about the status of amendments to Child Law 12 of 1996 which the Egyptian Parliament had passed in June 2008.

The 25 participants who attended this event came from 11 different TFD member organizations. Hany Helal of the Egyptian Child Rights Association-an expert in child rights-was the facilitator, and he gave a detailed overview of the law, the benefits gained, and what work is still required for the best benefit of the child.

Discussions were dynamic, and the feedback from the participants was great:

Next steps for the implementation

On Saturday there was an overview of work to define implementation of Amendment 76- requiring inclusive education for children with disability. The major task since the amendments passed in June 2008 has been to define the criteria for “mild disability” as the amendment allows this category of children to be included in public schools. Many people at different levels in society have been involved in the process, from NGO representatives to experts in the Ministry of Education. The finalized definition is much more open and generous than anticipated by many proponents of inclusion. This is a wonderful and very welcome development.

After the presentation, TFD Network members had an open discussion about the contributions each will make in second half of 2009-2010 toward the implementation of inclusive education. Member organizations agreed this way to:

• Arrange meetings with undersecretaries of Ministry of Education and heads of school departments to raise awareness and plan for inclusion
• Facilitate establishing and equip resource rooms in primary schools targeted for inclusive education
• Develop audio-visual materials to be used for awareness-raising at the community level
• Print and distribute the Child Law to raise awareness of NGOs

Celebration of 2008-9 TFD Projects
On 9 April, TFD celebrated the successful conclusion of the projects member organizations implemented in 2008-9 at the level of communities in the Alexandria, Cairo, Beni Suef and Minia governorates to include children with disability in main stream education. The main theme was “Inclusion is Possible!” and the premise “Inclusion- we all benefit.” With 18 members participating and sharing, the celebration took the form of an exchange of experiences.

The ten projects lifted up during this event included:

• Training courses for teachers about inclusive education.
• One day camps for children with disability together with children without disability in which the children learned about their rights while drawing, playing, and dancing
• Round table discussions with school head masters about implementation of inclusion.
• Workshops for media representatives to change their stereotypes about persons with disability
• Trips and recreation for children with disability together with children without disability.
• Meetings with officials from the ministry of education at the level of the governorates.

The event was very fruitful.

Mother's Day Celebration

TFD Network organized a Mother’s Day celebration on 27th of March 2009 in the large hall at CEOSS (Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services) in Cairo. The objective of this program was to raise the awareness of mothers about the new legislation for inclusive education, and to include children with disability together with children without disability.

The celebration was attended by 380 children and mothers. Participants came from 13 NGOs in 4 Egyptian states- El-Minia, Beni Seif, Alexandria and Cairo. The program included songs, skits, handicrafts, and poems. It raised the awareness of mothers about the importance of including children with disability in society.

Also, there were some examples of persons with disability who succeeded in overcoming the stigma against disability and now play an effective in society. Participants shared their comments on how the day was funny, effective and nice. At the conclusion of the program, gifts were distributed to the mothers.

Mother's Day Celebration

Stay tuned!

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