About Us

The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) has been in circulation since 2001. To apply the classification consistently and reliably for clinical, social, academic, research, health service administration and statistical purposes, quality education is essential. To develop quality educational material, it is not desirable that new educators be left to duplicate previous efforts. Therefore, members of the WHO's Functioning and Disability Reference Group (FDRG) have developed this portal to share educational materials. The teaching and learning materials collected and listed can be accessed through links, used, and rated.

FDRG members and collaborators specified the scope of the web-based portal, defined the descriptive and search criteria, and specified the technical requirements for making available the educational materials in a user-friendly, accessible tool. FDRG provides the editorial team, monitors use of the portal and advises on further developments.

Also, WHO technical staff and the users of the site have directed and informed ongoing development of the site so that now, in addition to the educational materials, there are discussion forums, a register of ICF advisors and educators and a news section. News about ICF related events and peer reviewed publications about ICF based research are welcome.

A link to this portal has been placed on the WHO site, with the following disclaimer: “The provision of a link from the WHO website to other sites does not indicate endorsement of those sites by WHO, and WHO accepts no responsibility for the validity or accuracy of their content.”

This site was initially funded by individuals with a passion for making top quality ICF teaching and learning materials globally available. Subsequently the South African (2017-18) and Dutch (2019-20) WHO-FIC Collaborating Centres have provided financial support for the development and maintenance of the site. The Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta (Milan, Italy) indicated that they would provide funding to support the ICF Education Portal for the period 2021-2022.  

The website is under the auspices of the WHO-FIC Collaborating Centre in South Africa and IT support is provided by the Centre for Community Technologies at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa.

Support This Site

This site is funded by individuals and WHO-FIC Collaborating Centres with a passion for making top quality ICF resources globally available. Kindly support our cause. If you want to support this site, please contact us.