The programme supported training for vocational instructors to raise awareness of disability inclusion and the importance of gender-inclusive practices and policies.

PROSPECTS supported the development of a training programme, “How to consult organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs),” which was then applied in Ethiopia. The programme team also helped launch a survey to identify and map the prevalence of people with disabilities, as well the needs experienced and barriers faced by them and their caregivers, to inform targeted interventions and policy development. A Youth Network Committee (YNC) in the country set up a subcommittee on gender and disability, which helped ensure that PROSPECTS incorporated gender equality and disability inclusion across its activities. Members of the subcommittee were trained in gender and disability inclusion and oversaw the continual application of inclusive measures. As an example, a technical and vocational education and training system assessment focused on the inclusiveness of institutions and apprenticeship programmes in the Somali and Tigray regions. It looked at the participation of forcibly displaced people through a gender- and disability-inclusive lens. Among its recommendations were the importance of capacity-strengthening, including equipment support to improve teaching-learning processes, as well as training in inclusive skills methodologies adapted to people with physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual and psychosocial disabilities.

In Iraq, the ILO collaborated with the Women Empowerment Unit at the Directorate of Youth and Sports in Nineveh to rehabilitate a centre in Mosul. The design and facilities of the centre were developed in consultation with the Unit to help ensure that they met the needs of young women in the area. An EIIP approach was used to ensure specific attention was paid to increasing the participation of women in areas traditionally dominated by men, such as construction work. The physical infrastructure was also constructed to be accessible for all and included accessible walkways, entrance ramps and water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. The consultation on the design and the proactive steps taken to ensure the facilities were inclusive ultimately resulted in a safe space for active participation in development and training programmes.

The programme joined a disability inclusion technical working group in Turkana County that was part of the Kakuma Kalobeyei Integrated Social Economic Development Plan convened by the Turkana County Government and UNHCR. The working group coordinated disability inclusion interventions in the county and built the capacity of actors to champion disability inclusion in trade, through both policy and practice. The working group prioritized conducting a survey using the Washington Group of Questions to update disability data in Turkana West and the refugee camp there.

Consultations were convened with the Social Protection Network, an organization representing people with disabilities, to allow meaningful participation of people with disabilities in the social protection policy dialogue and reform process. A capacity-building session was held for organizations representing people with disabilities on social protection matters and resulted in a matrix of key advocacy messages for social protection reforms in Lebanon. This was in addition to a series of regular online meetings and webinars aimed at developing a high-level proposal for a disability allowance in the country, which was ultimately launched and implemented in 2023.