Children with disabilities are one of the most vulnerable and socially excluded groups in Yemen. Both mainstream and special needs education as well as therapy services for children with disabilities were scarcely available even before the civil war, and now they disabilities include destroyed service facilities, the absence of suitable services, remoteness, stigma, discrimination, and many other obstacles.

To address this issue and improve the disabled children situation in Sanaa, Y30 decided to provide operational support to a local centre. Since January 2022, we have been supporting the center for disabled by covering the rent costs of its premises. The centre has provided special needs education and therapy services to numerous children in Sanaa under the supervision of trained specialists.

However, up to this day, the center is still not financially supported by the local government. The continuation of its services is therefore largely dependent on donations collected by our organization.

The qualified staff at the centre is able to assist up to 30 children on a regular basis. However, the number of children with disabilities that require the centre’s support has more than doubled. We are therefore planning to expand support for the centre. Once funding is secured, we will aim to improve centre’s accessibility and availability of services by providing adequate compensation to its employees, introducing a special transportation service for the children, and expanding of the facilities.