YES Inclusivity Workshop took place in Accra, Ghana from October 10-15, 2019. The Workshop was aimed at gathering passionate alumni for a working format style workshop to develop resources and ideas to advance YES program inclusivity efforts. Another goal of the Workshop was to provide skill-building sessions for the alumni participants to strengthen advocacy, teamwork, and leadership skills while networking with YES alumni from other countries with similar passions and experience. Sixteen solution-oriented YES alumni attended the workshop; these alumni came from Albania, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, and Tunisia and brought together their unique experiences and perspectives together to the Inclusivity Workshop. 

Participants were delighted that officials from the U.S. Embassy in Accra joined the opening ceremony of the workshop and welcomed the participants and trainers to Ghana. Elizabeth I. Ategou, U.S. Embassy Accra Cultural Affairs Officer and Aisha Nartey, Cultural Affairs Assistant spoke with participants about the U.S. Embassy’s commitment to inclusivity and shared several initiatives that they support throughout the country.

Participants spent their days attending two different session formats: capacity building and resource building. With skilled facilitators guiding them, alumni attended sessions to build their capacity in advocacy, teamwork, allyship, and leadership skills. With the new skills and knowledge in hand from capacity building sessions paired with their own experiences, YES alumni were divided into small groups to brainstorm ideas to make the YES program more inclusive during recruitment and selection as well devising alumni activities for YES alumni with disabilities.

Sessions covered discussions around models of leadership, the history of disability rights and justice, and concrete steps required to implement changes in policies that make systems and institutions more inclusive. In order to deliver these sessions, the workshop welcomed experienced trainers Andraea LaVant and Christiana Yaghr. The participants of the Inclusivity Workshop left with stronger skills and YES alumni networks to advocate for and raise awareness of disability rights, laws, and resources in their communities. All YES alumni were encouraged to continue working on resources with fellow alumni and YES staff in their home communities.

Participants were also able to see firsthand how organizations in Ghana are making efforts to be more inclusive in the classroom. Participants went on a site visit to the Multikids Academy in Accra, which is the first international inclusive school in Ghana and aimed at creating access to quality education to children regardless of their academic, social, or physical needs. By learning about how the school provides various resources to students with learning disabilities and special needs, participants were encouraged to think about ways to advance the inclusivity efforts by the YES program.

The YES Inclusivity Workshop was hosted by AFS-USA and iEARN-USA in partnership with AFS-Ghana. Photos and videos from the workshop can be viewed on this Flickr album. Read more about the YES Inclusivity Workshop Trainers below: 

Andraéa LaVant is founder and president of LaVant Consulting, Inc., a strategy and communications firm dedicated to fostering disability-inclusive cultures across all sectors. As a communications consultant and inclusion specialist, Andraéa has over a decade of experience working with programs that support youth and adults with disabilities and other underserved populations. Her professional roles and personal advocacy have presented her with a variety of notable opportunities to share messages and prompt change for people with disabilities across the globe.

Christiana Yaghr is the regional president of the Women’s Wing of the Upper West Region Association of the Deaf (UWAD-WW), which is a regional branch of the Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD). In this role, Christiana works passionately to mobilize women who are Deaf in the rural areas of Ghana to access information and education, and oversees the implementation of activities within eleven districts, as well as the capital, in her region. With a strong focus on the leadership of women who are Deaf and hard of hearing, Christiana is a relentless advocate for the inclusion and participation of women and girls who are Deaf in the design and policy planning phase of community programs. As a result of her advocacy and community mobilizing, Deaf women and girls are now included in community programs focused on people with all types of disabilities and no longer segregated into programs exclusively for people who are Deaf. Christiana is Deaf and uses sign language.