International Development Agencies

H. International Development Agencies

1. Action on Disability and Development, United Kingdom

Sector: Community services

Goal:

Management for social action

KIPA Focus:

Knowledge and participation

Country: Cambodia

Participating Agencies:

People with disabilities and their organizations

Beneficiaries:

All people with disabilities

50. Background: Economic empowerment for people with disabilities faces many challenges in Cambodia, with approximately 40% of the people living in poverty. There is little legislation on disability. Therefore, such organizations as Action on Disability and Development (ADD), have developed their vision, mission statement, and strategies based on international best practices and in line with directives, guidance, and collaboration with other organizations and agencies working in this sector.

51. Goals: The overall goals are to support organizations of people with disabilities in their campaign for the rightful inclusion of disabled adults and children in society to build strong associations of people with disabilities; promote self-advocacy and influence; promote access to rehabilitation services and other development opportunities; promote economic empowerment; provide information and education; and promote recreation, sport, and cultural activities.

52. Strategy: To meet its 5 goals, ADD has developed village activities and national advocacy actions. Community members of ADD's activities recently participated actively in long-term (5 years) strategic planning to influence and voice their opinions on the direction and approach the organization should take. ADD is a member of the national coordinating body, the Disability Action Council, in which it promotes advocacy work

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through funding and active participation. ADD supported the drafting of the Disability Act that is with the Council of Ministers for approval.

53. Output: At the village level, ADD's most significant contribution is the formation of village- and commune-level structures: 137 self-help groups and 3 federations. Self-help groups are an avenue for people with differing disabilities to express their interests and needs, gain access to public services by identifying barriers, discuss problems, analyze causes, and develop solutions. These may either be local or national and include networks with other organizations. A federation is a body of 9 people with disabilities at the commune level with the role of: representing disabled persons in the commune, supporting self-help groups through management of activities, leading in issues of advocacy, facilitating and monitoring implementation of the Disability Act, asserting an inclusive environment at local levels, and collaborating with local authorities. Many of the self-help groups work on practical issues of poverty reduction through savings plans, credit schemes, income-generation projects, and other rehabilitation initiatives. Some self-help group members have acquired income and employment skills, which have raised their confidence and helped the communities to accept people with disabilities and acknowledge them as people with abilities.

54. Result: Inclusion. Behavioral changes within communities toward people with disabilities are beginning to be documented by ADD. All the senior management of the institution are Cambodians.

2. How People with Disabilities Take Challenges to Make Changes

Sector:

International agencies involved in disability

Goal(s): Independence

KIPA Focus:

Knowledge, access, and participation

Country: Bangladesh

Participating Agencies:

ADD

Beneficiaries:

People with disabilities

55. Background: ADD has assisted Mahfuja Akhter Shapla, a disabled person now aged 18. She was born in a typical village of Bangladesh. Her family members lived on less than $2 a day; they could not provide nutritious food for their children. About 55% of children in the village under the age of 5 were underweight; the children were not immunized and sanitation was very poor. Almost 90% of people with disabilities come from a similar economic situation. Disabled women are not well represented within the disability movement in the country and are usually forgotten by the women's movement and by the majority of development agencies and governments.

56. Goal: The goal is to empower girls and women like Shapla throughout Bangladesh.

57. Strategy: Shapla joined the self-help groups (grassroots DPOs) of people with disabilities at her village in 1995, supported by ADD Bangladesh. Subsequently, Shapla was admitted into class five in her village high school, participated in the group meetings and decision-making process, became aware of the plights and rights of people with disabilities, developed her leadership capacity, and was elected leader of federations of

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grassroots DPOs. She continued her regular education in the mainstream school and received computer training in the local town.

58. Output: After going through the empowerment process, Shapla completed secondary education. She has plans for higher education and assisted her mother to run an informal school in their community. She also started a computer training center in her village to train other young people.

59. Results: Access. The case of Shapla clearly illustrates that if persons with disabilities have the opportunity or access to education and organizations, they can change their life and contribute to their family and society. Participation: Shapla joined the group of 2,000 disabled people who have made changes in their own lives and to remove social barriers for other disabled people in the country. Knowledge. ADD has built the capacity of DPOs in Bangladesh. They can now work with more disabled people with fewer resources. The reasons for success were experience and expertise of ADD and empowerment of people with disabilities.