Tearfund Ireland is proud to be part of VIVID-T, a new EU-funded project.
VIVID -T is focused on technical assistance in humanitarian response, ensuring valuable international volunteering, and inclusion of persons with disabilities. Funded by the EU Aid Volunteer Initiative, the project aims to bring together EU organisations to develop a community of practice focused on disability inclusion in humanitarian action and volunteering.
The project aims to be a model for the EU and other NGOs in the area of disability inclusive volunteering by developing a set of inclusive policies and procedures that will be implemented within the consortium.
Time Frame
This project runs from from December 2019 until December 2021.
Consortium Members
Joining us in the project are the following NGOs:
Main Objectives
- Build capacity of European NGOs to provide equal opportunities for people with disabilities to be included within all aspects of humanitarian responses.
- Build a community of practice where organisations can build their skills and expertise through training, peer mentoring and guidance.
- Build capacity of organizations to apply for EU AVI certification and to deploy volunteers with disabilities.
- Ensure disability inclusion in overseas programmes through identification of barriers and opportunities.
- All communications (digital media, video, documents, events, etc) created by the VIVID T project must be truly accessible and inclusive of persons with disabilities.
- Disseminate our learning and experience to promote inclusive practices in humanitarian action and volunteer management.
Resources
Check out these two helpful toolkits that will make your social media and power points more accessible!
Accessible PowerPoint Toolkit – PDF
Accessible PowerPoint Toolkit – Word Version
Accessible Social Media Toolkit – PDF
Accessible Social Media Toolkit – Word Version
Tearfund Ireland’s main role in this EU Project, is to build the capacity of consortium partners in the area of Care Reform. Tearfund Ireland works with overseas partners on an ongoing basis in this area; strengthening families and reintegrating institutionalised children safely back into family and community.
We regularly lead workshops to raise awareness of the harm caused when children grow up in institutional care, exploring the common reasons children end up in care in the first place. We promote Alternative Care models – supporting families and communities to ensure children don’t need to be placed in an institution.
We bring this expertise to the project for a number of reasons. Firstly, children with disabilities are up to 17 times more likely to end up in institutionalised care, meaning they are some of the most vulnerable children in the world, so the Care Reform conversation is a welcome addition to any conversation on the inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Secondly, the project is funded by the EU Aid Volunteers Initiative, and the issue of volunteering in orphanages is a significant barrier to Care Reform. Many orphanages around the world are funded by overseas volunteers and orphanage tourism, despite the fact that the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, endorsed by the United Nations in 2009, states that governments should promote family-based care and prevent children being separated from their parents.
Throughout the life cycle of the VIVID-T Project, Tearfund Ireland will be hosting workshops and building the capacity of our consortium partners to move away from institutional care towards a family- and community-based model of care.
