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Handicap International has started up mine clearance operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Starting in June 2016, the organisation and its local partner AFRILAM will clear a 50,000 metre squared plot of land, the equivalent of eight football pitches, located around 15 kilometres from Kinsagani, the main city in the province of Tshopo in the north-east of the country.
 

Since 2012, Handicap International has been improving the school enrolment and attendance of 170,000 children with disabilities in nine West African countries through the “Promoting the Full Participation of Children with Disabilities in Education” (APPEHL) project. Sandra Boisseau, who coordinates APPEHL from Dakar, Senegal, explains what the organisation is doing to remove obstacles to education for these children.

Handicap International is preparing to launch a response in aid of the most vulnerable individuals affected by flooding and landslides in Sri Lanka, which was hit by Cyclone Roanu on 15th May.

Eloquent, determined and mature beyond his 14 years, Qusay is coping with losing both his legs in an air strike in Syria. His progress is an inspiration to everyone he meets.

The European Football Championships, Euro 2016, will be closely followed by fans of European football across the world. Handicap International’s teams plan to use the event to highlight how playing football or another sport can help restore some of the mobility and self-esteem of lower-limb amputees. Isabelle Urseau, a rehabilitation specialist at Handicap International, tells us more.

Handicap International is preparing to launch a response in aid of the most vulnerable individuals affected by flooding and landslides in Sri Lanka, which was hit by Cyclone Roanu on 15th May.

Cyclone Roanu, which hit Sri Lanka on Sunday 15th May, caused severe flooding and landslides, killing over 100 people, and affecting 300,000 more. Handicap International is preparing to launch a response in aid of the disaster’s victims.

Erika Trabucco is one of Handicap International’s reconstruction and building accessibility specialists. An architect by training, from March 2015 to April 2016, she worked for Handicap International in Gaza to rebuild a hospital specialised in the care and treatment of people with disabilities and to improve the accessibility of public buildings for people with disabilities.

Kenya has announced plans to close the refugee camps on its territory and to rapidly repatriate refugees who, in some cases, have lived in the camps for over 20 years. A collective of 11 NGOs, including Handicap International, have signed a joint statement reminding the Kenyan government of its obligation towards the refugees.

Handicap International, with UNICEF's support, led a vast awareness-raising campaign in schools on the risks of mines and explosive remnants of war. The campaign took place near the front line where the Ukrainian army is fighting the pro-Russian militia, between October 2015 and February 2016. Over 5,600 children aged from 6 to 18 received risk education.

After losing both legs in the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Ramesh Kitra has been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement for the other young amputees in the rehabilitation centre. Even before he was fitted with prosthetic legs, Ramesh was active, learning wheelchair tricks and taking part in a race in Kathmandu.

High in the Kathmandu Valley, Uma and her family are rebuilding their lives step by step following the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Their family home was destroyed in the disaster and Uma lost her leg. But after learning to walk again, the young woman is determined to support other people with disabilities.

Since January 2016, Handicap International has repaired airstrips across the Central African Republic. Implemented in conjunction with humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations and NGOs, this initiative aims at improving the distribution of humanitarian aid to the country’s most isolated regions.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador on the evening of Saturday 16th April. On 20th April, 587 people were reported to have been killed and more than 8,000 injured. According to the United Nations, more than one million people (of a population of around 16 million) may have been affected. The country has suffered considerable material damage and it is not possible to access entire areas of the North West.