Special Needs and Community Driven Development The global concept of disability was legally transformed in 2006, whereby more than 80 countries signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). This convention was a step towards transitioning from the purely medical care approach to the equity, human rights and inclusion approach.
Even though Lebanon hasn’t yet ratified this convention, after more than 10 years of its declaration, the Lebanese Parliament has passed in 2000 the law number 220/2000 for the rights of persons with disabilities. Further to this law, the Lebanese Government adopted a youth oriented policy by launching the National Youth Policy in 2012 urging all stakeholders to take actions in reforming laws and policies to make the Lebanese society more inclusive towards young men and women at all aspects, overcoming many different forms of social, economic and political exclusions, including disabilities. 
To this effect Law 220/2000 was considered as the first legislation of its kind that addressed the key issue of persons with disabilities in Lebanon, aiming at enabling the disabled to fully integrate and participate effectively in society. The law abolished existing laws restricting the rights of the disabled and substituted them with a supportive law empowering inclusion into the society. 
While this law has 102 articles, SHEILD’s intervention focuses on section 7 (Part VII. The Right to Education and Sports from article 59 to article 67) addressing the right of persons with disability to learn, education and sports. Inclusion is one of our core principles, as we recognize the importance of the integration of children and youth marginalized for reasons of gender, religion, ability, ethnicity, disability and social background. We work on insuring the equal participation of all individuals regardless of their differences, and we do adopt a can-do attitude when it comes to gender equity perspective while implementing all of our projects and activities. 
In order to achieve inclusion, a tri-track methodology is to be considered:
	Focusing on the Society to remove barriers
	Focusing on the excluded vulnerable groups to build their capacities
	Advocacy, Collaboration and Networking to achieve change and sustainability
SHEILD’s adopts an equity-based approach, in both the development and the humanitarian action. This approached emphasises on developing the skills of the most vulnerable excluded children and youth, on one hand, by building their resilience and increasing their access to essential services in the areas of protection, education and health and, on another hand, by strengthening family, community, civil society and Government, protection systems. 
In the defined 12 months’ period, the proposed project aims to address the excluded children and youth with special needs, along with their families. Children with disabilities, no matter the kind or type, have the same social needs, interests and rights as any other child around the world. They are denied in many places and sectors the right of participation or being an active member in their societies. The project is designed to provide psycho-social support for vulnerable children populated in some of the most disadvantaged areas in Lebanon, South Lebanon, through empowering children and youth, both Syrian and Lebanese, with resiliency and tolerance to help them cope with their disability plus displacement situation, develop leadership skills, and promote healthy lifestyle and integration with host communities.