LINC-Africa

LINC-Africa was officially launched in Kigali in April 2017 to promote a broader vision of societies where children with disabilities are fully included in all aspects of life and meaningfully participate in decisions that affect their well-being. LINC Africa is one of the most diverse, multi lingual and multi-cultural formation of African countries bound by a common thread, shared interest and objective of transforming the lives of African children with disabilities. The network is consisted of 17 countries (10) English speaking and (7) French speaking.

Following the Kigali resolution in 2017, LINC-Africa resolved to work together towards building stronger inter-country collaboration and communication among its members utilizing both electronic and social media platforms. Joint programming was done in the area of Inclusive Labour with a joint proposal by 6 members, led by Cameroon, on improving access to employment for youth with disabilities. Alongside, several marginal initiatives were done such as joint inter-country proposal development on Lobbying and Advocacy done by Zimbabwe and Zambia. Efforts aimed at joint resourcing saw individual countries mapping potential donors and local lead partners in disability mainstreaming efforts that can be tapped into. Zimbabwe and Zambia visited foreign Embassies in Lusaka to explore funding opportunities availed for local cooperation. Such efforts gives a clear direction and sums up our aspirations as a network.

Going into the future, LINC-Africa aims to strengthen joint program development, fundraising and program quality improvement. Towards this end, in 2018 the network will develop a regional strategy and a theory of change with several pathways and program approaches that address the various priority needs among children with disabilities i.e. Access to Employment, Access to quality and inclusive education, Access to Health and Rehabilitation including Sexual and Reproductive Health Services. From the corporate strategy, members will develop country specific business plans and strategic specific action plans to inform local and regional fundraising initiatives. The network will also create a regional Disability knowledge bank for capturing and sharing new evidence and lessons emanating from practice. It is this knowledge that will inform future interventions, good quality services and collaboration with like-minded organizations. This will go with strengthening collaboration with other LINC members from Latin America and Asia for experience sharing and inspiring each other so that together, we can achieve the common goal around a child with disability. We believe that planning and executing interdependently on a regional and global scale will deepen public support for disability in individual countries and constitute great strides towards ensuring that children and youth with disabilities at the grassroots attain their full potential.