Country Selection for the First Phase of the EFA-VI Campaign

During the first phase of the campaign (2006-2010), 14 countries will get focussed attention. These countries will be spread throughout the developing regions and the final list will be decided in consultation with the regional committees of ICEVI. In order to assist the regional chairs and their committees to make a decision on two countries that can be selected for each region during the first phase, the Global Task Force of the EFA-VI campaign has developed the following nine criteria as the most important to be considered in the selection of countries.

• Presence of a functioning organisation(s) of the blind
• Programs for EFA already in place
• Availability of facilities for human resource development (such as  teacher training)
• Evidence of Government’s commitment to fulfil the Millennium Development Goals
• NGDOs actively working in the country in the area of education (local and International NGOs)
• Existing capacity to support the education of children with visual impairment (such as braille production centres)
• Focus on inclusive education in respect to Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
• Implementing Blindness Prevention Programs (such as the Vision 2020 program)
• Potential to make impact on other countries within the region

Though 2 countries will be the focus in each region, it does not mean that other countries within the region will not be involved in EFA-VI. The regional chairs along with the country representatives will plan activities that would promote educational opportunities for children with visual impairment in those countries.

There are some countries, which are already active in implementing services for children with visual impairment and ICEVI and WBU will work with these countries to strengthen the efforts of the national bodies. In some other countries, assistance may be necessary for organising capacity building programmes, technical areas, etc. Therefore, the global campaign activities will be carried out in as many countries as possible, whereas intensive activities will be planned in the 14 countries, which come under the first phase implementation.