Disability Under Siege
Focusing on the role of arts and culture in the development of collaborative partnerships for the promotion of inclusive disability-led education, throughout the duration of the Disability Under Siege project Professor Anthony Downey has been supporting cultural and other institutions in Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan to expand educational provisions for young people with disabilities. Here he describes this important and innovative collaborative project for RAAD’s new blog.
Disability Under Siege - Global Challenge Research Fund (2020-2025)
Research commissioned by UNICEF indicates that over 85% of children with disabilities in Low- and Middle- Income Countries (LMICs) have never attended school, yet despite this, the link between conflict, disability and access to education is under-examined. Funded by UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), under the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), the Disability Under Siege Network + is a transnational project that started in 2020. Its multidisciplinary research framework was designed to transform educational provisions for young people with disabilities in war affected states, specifically Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank), Lebanon, and Jordan.
Drawing on my research background in visual culture in the Middle East and Global South, inclusive art practices, practice-based research, and art activism, I largely focused on encouraging collaborations between universities, cultural organisations, grassroots activists (specifically disability-led organisations working the field of culture), NGOs, educators, and artists.
63 Days of Sit In (Basta Theatre Collective)—Disability Under Siege Project 2025
Conflict and crisis reduce the capacity for providing equal access to education for children with disabilities, while at the same time increasing demand due to a higher proportion of people with disabilities because of physical or psychological trauma. To address these and other issues, the Disability Under Siege Network+ scheme funded a range of projects to change the discourse around disability, removing barriers, and improving access to education for children with disabilities, while also promoting collaboration between partners in the MENA region and UK organisations. Concentrating on Network & Knowledge Exchange and Research & Engagement, these projects included:
• Mainstreaming disability inclusion in HE (Al Quds University, Jerusalem)
• Theatre skills and inclusion in culture for people with disabilities (Al-Harah Theater Company, Ramallah)
• Documentation of the 63 days of Sit-In of the Palestine disability movement (Basta Theatre Collective, Ramallah))
• Towards Inclusive Media: Training workshops for media organizations and media students (Centre for Lebanese Studies, Beirut)
• Arts advocacy for young people with and without disabilities in Jordan (University of Birmingham in Dubai)
• Disabled Voices from Gaza (Islamic University of Gaza and Action on Armed Violence)
• Disability Under Siege: An Analytical Framework for a Disability-Inclusive COVID-19 Recovery (UNPRPD Analytical Framework)
#DisabledVoicesfromGaza— Nazmi al Masri (Islamic University of Gaza) & Action on Armed Violence in partnership with the Disability under Siege Network+
Working from within the United Nations Sustainable Development framework, specifically areas that include Quality Education, Gender Equality, Good Health and Well-Being, and Reduced Inequalities, the Disability Under Siege final framework will be disseminated by the United Nations Partnership for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) to governments, NGOs, Disabled People’s Organisations, and other key stakeholders in the countries where the UNPRPD is currently running programmes.
Towards Inclusive Media: Training workshops for media organizations and media students (Centre for Lebanese Studies, Beirut)
To truly understand and make progress against the challenge of providing inclusive education, a cross disciplinary approach is necessary. How disability is understood in the various domains of health sciences, law, religion and culture underpins education policy and practice as well as the prioritisation and allocation of resources. To do this effectively, the project draws on arts and humanities methodologies to support inclusion in formal and non-formal contexts of education, as well as achieving cultural change in the representation of disability in arts and media. The programme sets out to meet the following key objectives that will be reflected its overall impact:
Support interdisciplinary research to critically evaluate dominant discourses, and individual and community attitudes toward disability in contexts of conflict.
Facilitate the development of equitable co-produced, multidisciplinary research and the gathering of evidence to inform education provision for those with disabilities in the Middle East.
Strengthen local and international capacity for implementing research designed to address challenges for disability inclusion in education.
Develop equitable and sustainable partnerships, South-South as well as South-North collaborations, and sustainable legacy activities and practices.
63 Days of Sit In—Performance Intervention, Ramallah, 2020 (Al Basta Theatre, Palestine)
Amongst the multiple publications and events, my colleagues and I produced the first research mapping of arts and disability organisations working in Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan, alongside separate publications on each of the countries. All resources and publications can be accessed here. Details of all funded projects, the AM Qattan Foundation Pilot Projects, and the scheme for Early Career Researchers can be found here. Full documentation of the project is currently being finalised—ongoing updates through to the end of 2025 can be found here.
Hamad Samamra, 63 Days of Sit In (Basta Theatre Collective)—Disability Under Siege Project 2025
In the final stages of the project, I will be compiling feedback on the project’s impact in the region, on a local and national level, and exploring international platforms for supporting the future development of several of the projects, in particular #DisabledVoicesfromGaza (Islamic University of Gaza & Action on Armed Violence) and 63 Days of Sit In (Basta Theatre Collective, Ramallah).