The Dominican Republic has launched its first Diploma Course in Deafblindness and Multiple Disabilities thanks to a project promoted by the InteRed Foundation, the Teresian Association's NGO.
There are more than 1,500 people with disabilities in the Dominican Republic, of whom 57.1% are women. Of the total, 58.9% have visual impairments and 32.4% have a low or very low socioeconomic status. Girls and women with disabilities, living in the Dominican Republic tend to be seen as different within their families and communities due to social stigmas associated with their condition, relationships and sexuality, personal autonomy and overprotection. At the same time, they are more exposed to exclusion, violence and stigmatisation.
In light of this reality, in January 2025, as a result of the consortium between the ONCE Foundation for Solidarity with Blind People in Latin America (FOAL), the InteRed Foundation and Ilunion, the Project ‘Education and technology: Social Inclusion of Women and Girls with Disabilities for a Life Free of Gender Violence’ was launched. Local partner organisations such as the Poveda Cultural Centre and the Luna Network of Women with Visual Disabilities also joined this initiative, which is supported by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). It was agreed that the project would last 24 months, i.e. until January 2027.
Objective
As explained by the InteRed Foundation, the objective of this project is ‘to contribute as a priority to the fulfilment of the right of women, adolescents and girls with disabilities to a life free of violence (Sustainable Development Goal 5) and, at a second level, to their right to quality education’. The scope of action is located in the Dominican municipalities of Santo Domingo, San Pedro de Macorís and La Romana.
Its main areas of focus include "promoting the use of new technologies as a key element in accessing rights for girls and women with visual impairments and deafblindness, specialised training for professionals in the field of education as guarantors of rights and protectors of violence prevention in the educational context, and training organisations representing women with visual impairments and deafblindness so that, as rights holders, they can demand compliance with those rights".
To this end, FOAL has replicated the “Wikitiflos” initiative and digital education for diverse women with disabilities in Colombia. At the community level, Ilunion is working on training in rights awareness, leadership and violence prevention through virtual environments accessible to people with disabilities.
In general, teachers and support staff have little training and few tools to address the vulnerability of children and adolescents with disabilities. For this reason, the project has focused on developing actions aimed at strengthening their knowledge and, at the same time, enabling them to correctly exercise their protective role in situations of gender-based violence.
Activities
In this regard, it is worth mentioning that on 5 November 2025, the Diploma in Deafblindness and Multiple Disabilities was launched, the first of its kind in the Dominican Republic, aimed at the teaching staff.
This training programme consists of seven modules that combine face-to-face and virtual sessions, and features national and international facilitators. Participants also have access to tutorials focused on cases of deafblindness.
Previously, in October 2025, the Diploma in Inclusive Education, Adapted Resources and Gender was completed, another of the actions developed within this project. In total, it brought together 93 teachers from different educational regions of the country.
At the same time, other actions have been planned that will be carried out throughout the duration of the project. Some of these are training processes on human rights, gender and intersectionality, but also on leadership and gender perspective, activism, and various training workshops that will focus on the role of the family in the personal and professional development of women with visual impairments, among others. In addition, advice will be provided for the development of the Luna Network Strategic Plan 2025-2030 and the formation of a team of Luna Network multipliers to train and support them.
Beneficiaries
A total of 390 women, young people and girls with visual impairments and deafblindness, their families, teachers, technicians and management staff from the educational community in the three provinces where the project is being implemented will benefit directly.
Indirectly, the 100 women belonging to Luna Network will also benefit from capacity-building activities and the development of their 2025-2030 Strategic Plan. In turn, 451 students with visual impairments (205 girls) and 120 with deafblindness (8 girls) will also benefit.
If you would like to be part of this project or others run by the InteRed Foundation, CLICK HERE.
TA Info.
TA Translation Team.
Published in News