By Mark Smulian | 6 August 2013

The World Bank has given a $2.86m grant to Moldova for work with children with disabilities.

Funded by the Japanese government, the grant will be used on projects to demonstrate that the inclusion of children with disabilities into mainstream education can be successfully achieved through adequate planning, infrastructure investments, teacher training and community awareness and mobilisation.

Qimiao Fan, World Bank country director for Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus, said: ‘We hope that understanding these children’s needs, bringing educators, parents, communities and local authorities together in helping them benefit from a better education can serve as models of inclusiveness that can be replicated across Moldova.’

The money will be used to help district authorities to design and implement Moldova’s national programme for the development of inclusive education.

This will include support in assessing the number of children with disabilities, addressing school infrastructure needs and teacher training.

There will also be around 20 demonstration sub-projects aimed at rehabilitation and refurbishment of school facilities to meet the needs of children with disabilities.

Some of the funding will be devoted to the dissemination of experience and good practice.

Moldova joined the World Bank in 1992, since when a total of $910m has been allocated to 45 operations in the country.