Numé-Raï — New Caledonia's Digital-Skills and Accessibility Programme for Disabled and Rural Residents

Numé-Raï pairs digital-skills training with disability inclusion in New Caledonia. It is run by the OPEN NC digital-sector cluster together with the Collectif Handicaps Nouvelle-Calédonie disability-rights coalition, funded through Fondation Afnic's 2025 call for projects, 'Le numérique au service d'une société plus équitable'.

The programme comprises 35 workshops — covering basic digital use, cybersecurity, collaborative tools and AI — across 9 municipalities (Lifou, Maré, Ouvéa, Hienghène, Koné, Bourail, La Foa, Thio and Nouméa), targeting 500 participants over 18 months, with half explicitly people with disabilities, aimed at improving access to employment and entrepreneurship.

A companion 2024 accessibility scan by the Collectif Handicaps of roughly 2,000 Caledonian websites found 99% had at least one accessibility alert, 91% at least one error, and 88% at least one contrast problem — the baseline that motivates the programme's accessible-content design.

At the time of the sourced coverage the programme was still ramping up, with workshops beginning in March and organisers seeking expanded funding to double their reach; the 500-participant target is a stated goal, not yet a reported completed outcome.

Read the full analysis: https://www.open.nc/nume-rai-le-numerique-qui-relie-forme-et-cree-des-opportunites/