Event: Bridging the Gap - Insights from Africa: new perspectives on disability and development

The Impact Initiative is delighted to be supporting a two-day event, hosted by Leonard Cheshire Disability and partners, which will showcase findings from the three year ESRC-DFID funded research project ‘Bridging the Gap: Examining Disability and Development in Four African Countries’.  The event will be an opportunity to explore the key findings from research in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia as well as consider the impact for policy and practice nationally and regionally.  

Day 1: Monday 12 March 2018 (09.00 to 18.30 - with a drinks receiption from 17.00)

The first day will be a high-level dialogue and is for representatives from government, United Nations, academia, national research partners, donors, private sector and practitioners.

Topics include:

• equitable access to services – ensuring we leave no one behind
• national policy design and implementation
• strengthening systems and improving accountability
• innovative solutions to collective challenges

Along with Leonard Cheshire Disability and partners from Kenya, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia, and the international experts who have worked on this project, the panel will be joined by the following external speakers:

• Lord Bates, Minister of State, Department for International Development
• Judith Heumann, Leonard Cheshire Global Ambassador
• Charlotte V McClain-Nhlapo, Global Disability Advisor, World Bank
• Stefan Trömel, Senior Disability Specialist, ILO
• Tomi Lounio, Programme Analyst on Human Rights — Lead on Disability Inclusive Development, UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa

The day will end with a drinks reception after the conference from 17:00 – 18:30. 

Day 2: Tuesday 13 March 2018 (09.00 to 17.00)

The second day will be a smaller, more focused event, that will examine and discuss country and sector-specific results in much more detail, as well as what success looks like.

The second day is for national research partners, academics, technical experts and practitioners.

Conference programme

The full programme can be accessed from Leonard Cheshire Disability: Bridging the Gap Full Programme with further information available from this event page.

Registration

This event is now operating a waiting list on both days. To register your interest, go to the registration pages and click 'register' where you will be taken through to the waiting list.

• Visit the Day 1 registration page. 
• Visit the Day 2 registration page.

You can also follow the discussion on Twitter #btgconf

Disability-related research

Research funded by the ESRC-DFID Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation and Raising Learning Outcomes in Education Systems programme provides valuable research evidence for policymakers and practitioners working on disability. A list of related projects is included below.