Africa Special Needs Education Network

Africa Special Needs Education Network (ASNEN) is a Community Based Organization registered with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection Registration # 06787. It comprises a team of parents of children with disabilities and special needs, scholars, researchers, and specialists in the field of special needs and inclusive education who are involved in teaching, training, research, curriculum development, and policy making in both their capacities and at national levels. ASNEN’s vision is to have an inclusive world where no one is left behind due to disabilities. Our mission is to facilitate activities that will promote inclusion in all aspects of life following the UBUNTU Philosophy. ASNEN’s core value is embedded in the belief of inclusion for ALL following the African Philosophy of UBUNTU which “is the capacity in African culture to express compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony, and humanity in the interests of the building and maintaining community with justice and mutual caring.”  UBUNTU is not just an African philosophy but spirituality and an ethic of African traditional life. Our other core values include Acceptance, Service, Integrity and Commitment. ASNEN's objectives 1.Demystifying disabilities through sensitization and awareness creation at the grassroots level. 2.Develop a caregiver’s manual that can be used to empower caregivers to gain a better understanding of their children, enhance parental involvement, and how to take care of themselves to enable them to be more effective and present for their children. 3.Develop an Inclusive Education Prototype curriculum for the universities to provide quality inclusive education teachers who can effectively and successfully enhance the learning and retainment of learners with special needs and disabilities in regular schools. 4. Develop an Early Childhood Inclusive Education Training manual to be launched during the 2nd UBUNTU Special needs and Inclusive conference 2023 5. Create a network of partners and stakeholders across the African continent who will be involved in data collection, research, and innovation that will promote new knowledge in special needs and inclusive education which will enhance advocacy and promote inclusion, leaving no child behind. 6. To be game changer drivers to influence policy and the development of a continent contextualized Ubuntu Inclusive Education model that can be used across the African continent 7. Engage in public/private partnerships financing in creating opportunities both local and intercontinental in ensuring successful inclusion for all. This will appropriately facilitate life-span issues immerging from birth to adulthood through training, equal access to education and health, and relevant and appropriate assistive devices. 8. Develop a research-based community across the continent that will guide inclusive education practices within the African continent 9. Collaborate with other African countries in bridging the inclusion gap at all levels. Introduce and implement workplace inclusive programs that sensitize and empower organizations to employ persons with disabilities or facilitate their self-employment.