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Disability

Around 15% of the world's population, or estimated 1 billion people, live with disabilities. International Day of Persons with Disabilities is marked every year on Dec 3 to raise awareness and understanding.

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All Content on this topic

Man with leg prothesis speaking as coach to younger para athlete

Paralympian Popow: Germany behind on disability sport

One of Germany's best-known para athletes, Heinrich Popow, warns Germany should be doing more and is falling behind.
SportsDecember 3, 2024
Model Clara Holmes

Adaptive fashion for people with disabilities

A London fashion label creates outfits that can be adapted to any kind of body.
DiversityNovember 29, 202404:54 min
Screenshot | Sendung 77 Percent

The 77 Percent — what it means to be a fighter

Could you be a fighter? With kickboxing pros like Jibrin Inuwa Baba, we look at what it means to fight your corner.
SocietyNovember 6, 202426:05 min
A young woman lies on the ground, in semi darkness

Spanish dancer Laila White breaks barriers in her art

For Laila White, a visual artist and dancer based in Madrid, her most important dance partners are two crutches.
DanceNovember 3, 202403:52 min
DW Projekt Zukunft Sendungslogo Englisch (Tomorrow Today)

The science of communication — Tomorrow Today

Unlocking an ancient Incan language / Transforming industry with 5G / AI smartphones / Cyberbullying / Hangovers
ScienceOctober 19, 202426:04 min
Cybermobbing, Projekt Zukunft

Cyberbullying and people with disabilities

A new anti-cyberbullying app aims to provide support and empowerment to people with disabilities.
ScienceOctober 19, 202406:01 min
Alaa Al-Dali cycles in the streets of Italy

Gaza's disabled cyclists deliver aid, inspiration and hope

The Gaza Sunbirds, a group of 25 cyclists whose legs were amputated, have made a difference in difficult circumstances.
SportsSeptember 22, 2024
Child in blue shirt and beige pants (trousers), stands in front of a white board, with back to camera, holding hands over their ears, while, superimposed on the image, alphabet letters appear to rain down around the child

Dyslexia: German researchers find cause in the brain

Dyslexia can affect people their whole lives. New findings may lead to a fresh approach to the learning difficulty.
ScienceSeptember 15, 2024
DW Dokumentationen KW 35 | Kampf um Inklusion in Pakistan

Fighting for deaf children's rights in Pakistan

In Pakistan, disabled children are usually hidden - but not Narjis. Her mother fights for her right to be seen.
SocietySeptember 6, 202442:34 min
Paralympics Leichtathletik | Johannes Floors

Paralympics: How athletes earn a living

Most Paralympic athletes can't make a living off their sports. But there is a large support system.
BusinessAugust 28, 202403:15 min
BdTD | Frankreich

Paris gears up for 2024 Paralympics

The Paralympics are set to kick off. Paris has made great efforts to provide more accessibility than ever before.
SportsAugust 28, 202402:33 min
Kenia | Wiederverwendbare Binden

Kenyan women with disabilities making reusable sanitary pads

A group of Kenyan women living with disabilities are making reusable sanitary pads from local materials.
SocietyAugust 12, 202402:06 min
Two girls and a boy, all in wheelchairs, next to a man who is also using a wheelchair

Helping children in wheelchairs in Germany

Children who use wheelchairs have to overcome many obstacles. One coach is helping them.
SocietyAugust 8, 202402:25 min
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GirlZOffMute – How Liberia can help blind pupils learn math

Listen to what the Liberian teens told Gladys!
SocietyAugust 5, 202402:57 min
Sports Life - Japanese Esports Fighters

Meet the Japanese esports players shooting down stereotypes

Naoya and Shunya are passionate about esports. They use customized equipment to take part in tournaments.
SportsJuly 26, 202412:36 min
Volunteer Dmytro Maksymovych speaks and gestures as he stands next to his ambulance-type vehicle

Ukraine volunteers bring elderly out of harm's way

Dmytro Maksymovych and his team have managed to evacuate more than 3,000 vulnerable people from dangerous situations.
ConflictsJuly 25, 202403:14 min
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The Tanzanian tailor defying all odds despite his disability

Riziki Ndumba was born with a rare condition that affects his limbs.
SocietyJuly 24, 202402:13 min
Liebria Girlz Off Mute Program

Liberia: Why disability inclusion in education is important

Watch how the conversation went down among pupils in Liberia.
EducationJune 18, 202403:13 min
DW Focus on Europe Sendungslogo

Kosovo: Finally working despite disability

Around 30 people with disabilities have found a job with a paper manufacturer, a rarity in Kosovo.
EqualityJune 10, 202404:41 min
Georg Winterling Sepsis

Losing Limbs to Sepsis

Sepsis changed Georg Winterling’s life forever: both his arms and legs had to be amputated.
HealthJune 8, 202412:34 min
DW Sendung The 77 Percent

The 77 Percent - The Magazine for Africa's Youth

In Tanzania, the heartland of Swahili, we ask how we can promote local languages while staying ahead in the world.
CultureMay 1, 202426:05 min
A wheelchair basketball player holding a basketball on a court in Benin

Disabled athletes in Africa changing the game

Not only are these athletes passionate about their sports, but they are changing perceptions of what they can do.
SportsApril 23, 202403:21 min
DW Sendung Euromaxx | Breakdance

B-Boy Junior: Star breakdancer with disabilities

Junior Bosila Banya, aka B-Boy Junior, didn't let the effects of polio stop him from becoming a breakdancing star.
DiversityApril 21, 202405:10 min
Screenshot | Sendung 77 Percent

What it Means to be a Fighter

Could you be a fighter? With kickboxing pros like Jibrin Inuwa Baba, we look at what it means to fight your corner.
SocietyApril 18, 2024
Shaurya Mehrotra, a potter who was diagnosed with Down syndrome

Indian pottery artist puts his talent above disability

With support from his mother, Shaurya Mehrotra creates and sells beautiful ceramics at a studio near Delhi.
SocietyMarch 21, 202402:03 min
DW Sendung Afrimaxx

Afrimaxx - Modern African Lifestyle

Speaking up as a female in Zambia, turning a disability into a superpower, and eco-friendly shoes.
CultureMarch 15, 202426:04 min
A man with a graying beard in a jacket looks to the distance

How B-Boy Junior turned a disability into a superpower

Junior Bosila Banya, aka B-Boy Junior, didn't let the effects of polio stop him from becoming a breakdancing star.
DanceMarch 15, 202402:39 min
A prison cell window behind barbed wire

Belarus: Little mercy for sick or disabled prisoners

NGOs count more than 40 ill or disabled political prisoners in Belarusian jail. What are their chances of release?
SocietyMarch 9, 2024
Kenia | Inklusion und Gebärdensprache

Kenyan app helps people with hearing impairments

Kizito Muleka decided to help by designing an app that reshaped the information landscape for deaf people.
SocietyJanuary 10, 202402:04 min
firefighters tackle a four storey building fire

India's deadly industrial workplaces in the spotlight

India is aiming to become a global industrial hub. But could a high number of workplace deaths hold it back?
BusinessJanuary 9, 2024
Fokus Dating-App

Belgium: Love for all

Kristof and Robby found each other on a Belgian dating app for people with intellectual disabilities.
SocietyDecember 25, 202304:50 min
04.2015 DW Business Sendungslogo

DW Business

Firms can reap rewards of better disability access - Tesla starts 'Cybertruck' deliveries, reveals prices
BusinessDecember 1, 202312:30 min
A closeup of a worker in a wheelchair at a desk with papers

Many workers with disabilities have a hard time finding jobs

One in six people live with a disability. Although many work, as a group they suffer from poverty and high unemployment.
BusinessDecember 1, 202301:00 min
Two tourists in wheelchairs are seen in Berlin

Is Germany accessible for travelers with disabilities?

It's not easy for vacationers with disabilities to travel around Germany. Can the required infrastructure be improved?
TravelNovember 6, 2023
DW Sendung | Made in Germany 26.09.2023

What does neurodivergence mean at work?

Neurodivergence in the workplace is not a problem if there is transparency and tolerance.
HealthSeptember 29, 202305:41 min
DW Sendung | Made in Germany 26.09.2023

Transformations - ecological and social

Where do chips and power for EVs come from? Will flying become climate-neutral? And: workplace inclusion.
BusinessSeptember 27, 202326:06 min
Vulcan Coalition employees in office

This AI startup is powered by people with disabilities

An AI startup in Thailand solves several problems at once by tapping a forgotten labor force.
BusinessSeptember 22, 2023
The entrance to Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen

Denmark apologizes for abuse of people with disabilities

The Danish government apologizes to thousands of people with disabilities who were abused in state-run facilities.
PoliticsSeptember 11, 2023
Kenia Fußball Manufaktur

Kenyan sports brand employs more disabled workers

A Kenyan social enterprise has increased the number of people with disabilities working in its factory.
SportsAugust 28, 202301:32 min
Vulcan, an AI startup in Bangkok, is creating more job opportunities for people with disabilities

Thailand: An AI startup empowering people with disabilities

It is not easy for people with disabilities to land a job in Thailand. One AI startup is determined to change this.
SocietyAugust 25, 202303:45 min
DW Sendung Fokus Europa | Belgien Tanz Rollstuhl

Belgium: the wheelchair dancer

Despite having polio and fleeing the Rwandan genocide, Iris Mukeshimana teaches "Cyclodance."
SocietyAugust 21, 202303:37 min

What is Germany doing about discrimination?

One in three Germans has experienced discrimination, despite all efforts. Could new reforms bring more equality?
EqualityAugust 15, 202306:17 min
A firetruck sprays water on a fire

France: Several dead after fire at holiday home for disabled

Eleven people have been found dead after a fire broke out at a holiday home for people with disabilities.
CatastropheAugust 9, 2023
A disabled man sits in a wheelchair near a woman outside a tent at the "Blue camp" for Syrians displaced by conflict near the town of Maaret Misrin in the rebel-held northern part of the northwestern Idlib province.

Disabilities in Syria: A 'hidden' crisis

February's earthquake came on top of a decade of war. Now, around a third of Syrians have a disability of some kind.
Human RightsAugust 5, 2023
external

Bulgarian parents fight to save their disabled children

To ensure their disabled children have dignified, healthy lives, two Bulgarian mothers have taken very different paths.
SocietyJuly 24, 202305:33 min
04.2015 DW Business Sendungslogo

DW Business

UN asks Russia to extend grain deal for SWIFT access - More employees disclosing disabilities at work
BusinessJuly 14, 202312:30 min
external

Caroline Casey on the "visibility of disability"

The disability activist says more workers are disclosing their disabilities — and taking cues from celebrity examples.
BusinessJuly 14, 202307:39 min
Schweiz Lausanne | Gehirnimplantate

Superhumans thanks to brain chips?

Researchers from Switzerland made a paralyzed man walk again, thanks to Brain-Computer-Interfaces.
Digital WorldJuly 11, 202303:26 min
A group of women on wheelchairs playing basketball, in Srinagar

Kashmir: Female wheelchair basketball players defy odds

Despite facing a raft of social and economic challenges, these women are determined to succeed on and off the court.
SocietyJuly 4, 202303:11 min
external

Special Olympics: German swim twins aim for home gold

Inna and Elvira Amirov are two of the 7.000 athletes taking part in the Games for people with intellectual disabilities.
SportsJune 17, 202302:16 min