University Disability Service Centers Amena El Saie Helm

University Disability Service Centers Amena El. Saie Helm Egypt Making Universities Accessible 19 th February 2020 13: 40 to 15: 10

Project Overview 2018 -2021 • What: We aim to ensure inclusive and equal access to higher education for PWD. • How: Establish and develop sustainable and effective Disability Service Centers in the top five Egyptian public universities. • Who: The U. S. -Egypt (HEI) Public University Scholarships Program, funded by USAID, supported by the Ministry of Higher Education, and administered by AMIDEAST in-collaboration with Helm.

Participating Universities Alexandria University Ain Shams University Cairo University Assiut University Mansoura University

Establishment of University Disability Service centers • All universities have determined the location of the disability service center also so far two universities have implemented all the changes to make the center accessible. • All universities have hired the center manager, vice center manager and two universities have formed board members. • Four universities formed the center’s financial and administrative regulations to maintain the sustainability.

Inclusive Higher Education Roundtable +80 key stakeholders participated from various institutions and organizations. • Discussions and legislative • • recommendations and policies for inclusive higher education. Sharing experiences and solutions towards inclusive university campus. Obtaining recommendations on effective tools that could help in breaking down barriers to inclusion.

Capacity Building & Disability Related Trainings +400 students, professors and staff members are trained in the five universities so far. • • To raise disability awareness through; Disability Equality Training (DET) and Helm Disability Awareness Program (DAP) To enhance the center staff skills through, conduct needs assessment, set center’s vision and mission, etc. …

Accessibility Auditing 13 buildings assessed at the five universities at a total size of around 40, 000 m 2. • • To help the five universities to choose their center locations and make it accessible. To empower and support universities’ administration, staff, and students to adopt inclusive practices and remove barriers.

U. S Study Tour 15 representatives from the five universities and the Ministry of Higher Education participated in a 10 days study tour held at the University of Montana and University of Colorado Boulder. • • To strengthen the capacity of the disability service centers staff and knowledge exchange To identify new practices to be applied by disability centers in Egypt.

Affecting Policy change • A meeting has been conducted with Deputy of the Minister of Higher Education “Dr. Amr Adly” at the international day for persons with disabilities to discuss the current status of the five disability service center and the learning outcomes of the US study tour. • Helm shared recommendations with the ministry to better inclusive education.

What’s Next? • Provide the center with the requested tools and equipment as per the needs assessment of each university. • Raise disability awareness in the universities through events at the five universities. • Provide accessibility consulting to two more buildings with total area 6, 000 m 2. • Conduct disability trainings (500+ students, professors and staff members). • Conduct +10 Capacity building workshops as part of the training plan. • Organize a closing conference by the end of the project. • Mainstream disability centers across all universities.