Exploring adolescents with disabilities’ access to education, social protection and employment opportunities in Ethiopia

Abstract

The importance of providing inclusive services for persons with disabilities has been gaining increasing international attention in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and pledges made at the 2018 Global Summit on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to scale up investments in inclusive education, health and employment services. This trend has been mirrored in Ethiopia as highlighted by the National Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities (2012–2021). This article explores the extent to which adolescents with disabilities in Ethiopia are able to access inclusive services to realise their full capabilities, drawing on longitudinal data collected before and after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic with a sample of young people with physical, visual or hearing impairments aged 10–19 from Afar, Amhara and Oromia Regions and Dire Dawa City Administration. The findings highlight that while recent investments in special needs education services have made a critical difference to adolescents’ access to formal education in Ethiopia, there are significant quality deficits, including inadequate teacher training, a dearth of adapted teaching materials and infrastructure and underinvestment in follow-on inclusive education services beyond 4th grade. These challenges are compounded by inadequate social protection to address economic barriers to education service uptake, and a dearth of inclusive youth- and disability-friendly psychosocial support services. The article concludes by reflecting on context-sensitive and cost-effective entry points for strengthening inclusive services in Ethiopia, including case management by social workers, in line with international commitments enshrined in the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.