Report on the Review of the Implementation of the Self-help Organizations Target of the Agenda for Action of the Asian and Pacific (A/P) Decade

"Self-help Organizations" (SHOs) is one of the twelve Agendas for Action of the A/P Decade. As there is a number of actions set for the Decade to achieve for each agenda, there is no exception of the "self-help organizations".

The Agenda for Action - Self-help Organization

Here below is the list of specific targets of action set for the Agenda on "SHOs".

1. Provision of policy, programme and resources support for the establishment and strengthening of self-help organizations of people with disabilities, including associations of advocates and families of persons with disabilities.

2. Establishment and strengthening of those organizations to provide a means for:

   1. Exploration, through joint effort by those directly affected by disability, of ways to enhance the economic independence and social integration of persons with disabilities;

   2. Collective self-representation by persons with disabilities in policy and programme development;

3. Conduct, by self-help organizations of persons with disabilities, of, inter alia, programmes to:

   1. Build self-confidence among members, through such means as peer counseling, positive role modeling, and skills development to meet individual needs;

   2. Strengthen their members" expertise for effective participation in national policy and programme development, especially on organizational management, public relations work, and technical knowledge of advocacy on specific issues;

   3. Facilitate access for people with disabilities to information, in appropriate formats, on resources available to the general population as well as specifically for people with disabilities;

   4. Strengthen understanding of gender issues;

   5. Provide training on rights and responsibilities attached to different roles in society (e.g. as organization members, citizens, voters, employees, entrepreneurs and consumers of services);

   6. Provide an avenue for cultural expression by people with disabilities;

   7. Increase grass-roots membership;

   8. Enhance the increased role to be played by persons with disabilities in decision-making on disability matters.

4. Encouragement of the leadership potential of girls and women with disabilities.

5. Support for self-advocacy by persons with developmental disabilities.

6. Advancement of peer counselling approaches to help meet the needs of people with emotional and mental problems.

7. Formation, by self-help organizations of people with disabilities, of a national forum representing all disability groups, with the assistance of national organizations and government funding.

8. Participation in efforts to improve national disability statistics, through the collaboration of the forum with:

   1. Government agencies to develop a national definition of disability that incorporates, in addition to clinical perspectives, consideration of functional limitations, for various stages of life, in the performance of major life activities (e.g. hearing, seeing, moving, speaking, cognitive processing, school attendance, working);

   2. Consumer research entities to conduct surveys of the prevalence rates of disability from a functional perspective.

9. National forum action to

   1. Conduct research and disseminate information on the issues that people with disabilities consider significant in their daily lives, as an instrument for policy enhancement;

   2. Represent forum constituents in a national coordination committee on disability matters and in other bodies as required;

   3. Undertake advocacy;

   4. Mobilize resources for activities that directly benefit people with disabilities;

   5. Facilitate contact between concerned agencies and organizations and various disability groups;

   6. Organize programmes for meeting the training needs of member organizations;

   7. Forge intra- and interregional links with similar self-help organizations;

   8. Establish links with consumer protection groups and market research agencies to encourage the design of products and services that accommodate the needs of consumers with functional limitations

   9. Involve experienced members in improving the production and quality control of assistive devices

10. Establishment of mechanisms for consultation between government agencies and organizations of people with disabilities on disability matters.

Major Achievements

Major achievements accomplished in the area of SHOs during the A/P Decade^#:

1. Under the project on self-help organizations and in close collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Regional Council of Disabled Peoples" International and other NGOs, ESCAP organized a series of subregional workshops on the management of self-help organizations at Dhaka in December 1993; at Bacolod City, Philippines, in January 1994; and at Suva, in February 1996.

2. During the Decade, ESCAP regularly provided technical and advisory services in support of strengthening self-help organizations. These included assistance at the first seminar of people with disabilities of Cambodia in September 1994, which laid the foundation for setting up the first national self-help organization of persons with disabilities in Cambodia; financial and technical support for the organization of the first national workshop on the promotion of self-help initiatives of people with disabilities in Viet Nam in October 1996; support to the development of self-help organizations in the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1999; support and input to the Disabled Peoples" International Oceania Office training seminar on capacity-building for persons with disabilities from eight Pacific countries, held at Port Vila in September 2001.

3. National cross-disability organizations of people with disabilities, or self-help organizations (SHOs) have been formed in 22 countries and territories in the ESCAP region, with a further four in the process for formation.

4. Input by SHOs into national policy development was reported by 17 Governments including China, Mongolia, Samoa, Sri-Lanka, Singapore, Turkey, etc.

5. Funding assistance to strengthen and support the development of SHOs was reported by 12 Governments, such as, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong SAR China, the Cook Island, New Zealand, Pakistan, etc.

6. Leadership training is provided to organizations of people with disabilities in different countries like New Zealand, the Philippines, etc.

7. The Philippines had developed a national forum of SHOs.

8. In some countries, SHOs at grassroots revel were actively encouraged such as India, Iran, Bangladesh, the Cook Island, Fiji, etc.

9. In Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, among others, they played an important leadership role in community-based services for SHOs.

10. In the Islamic Republic of Iran some organizations on vocational training of rural people with disabilities had been transferred to SHOs.

11. The Government of Japan had provided an Internet information system, "normanet", for the use of people with disabilities.

12. A trend of formation of parents" groups, or organizations of family members with a disability for advocacy was observed in countries like Palau, Uzbekistan, Micronesia, etc.

13. Cross-disability organizations of people with disability were also found in countries like Fiji, New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR China, etc.

14. Disabled Peoples" International (DPI), Asia and Pacific Region, has 22 member national assemblies of people with disabilities.

15. Self-help groups of women with disabilities were also formed in countries like Korea, Hong Kong SAR China, etc. A network of women with disabilities in the region was also initiated.

# most of the information is extracted from the ESCAP web-site: http://unescap.org/decade

General Observations

1. There are achievements noted in relation to the targets set for the agenda on "SHOs".

2. Owing to the diversity of different countries in the region, no matters in terms of their social, cultural, political or economic development in general and the disability movement in particular, discrepancy found in implementation of the targets is inevitable.

3. However, it is clearly seen that some areas are well developed like formation of SHOs of single disability group, but some areas are least developed like increase grass-roots membership, encouragement of the leadership, encouragement of the leadership potential of girls and women with disabilities, support for self-advocacy by persons with developmental disabilities, etc.

4. Therefore, it is evident that there are still rooms for improvement to further implement the agenda on "SHOs".

Areas that warrant further attention in the coming Decade

1. Representation of disabled people, their family members or carers in the policy making process which affects their quality of life should be further promoted.

2. Adequate resource have to be allocated to training of PWDs and formation of SHOs to facilitate their active participation in the community.

3. National SHOs of diverse disability groups for self advocacy should be encouraged to form in the region.

4. PWDs on the grassroots levels and in the rural region should be mobilized further to involve in SHOs.

5. People with mental problems should be helped further involve in the SH movement.

6. Coordination of SHOs of different countries in the region should be promoted such that good practice can be learnt and exchanged from each other.

7. SHOs and PWDs should be better equipped with IT and their access to information should be improved.

8. Statistics of PWDs and SHOs of the region has to be kept updated and accessible for easy reference.

9. Research on SHOs of the region should be encouraged and supported with resources.

Challenges Ahead

Apart from the economic downturn and political instability in some countries of the region, there are in general challenges ahead for enhancing solidarity of SHOs in the local, national and international level. Here, the framework proposed by Kwok et al., (2002) is adapted and drawn for illustration and served as a conclusion of the report.

Figure:
CHALLENGES IN THE FUTURE

CHALLENGES IN THE FUTURE: ENHANCING SOLIDARITY OF SHOs THROUGH CROSS-SECTORAL NETWORKING AND ALLIANCE

Adapted and extracted from:
Kwok, J., et al., (eds.) (2002) Self-help Organization of People with Disabilities in Asia. Westport: Auburn House, p. 147.

Explanation of a figure is from here.

Appendix

A questionnaire to invite your comments on the implementation of the self-help organizations target of the Agenda for Action of the Asian and Pacific (A/P) Decade

"Self-help Organizations" (SHO) is one of the twelve Agendas for Action of the A/P Decade. As there is a number of actions set for the Decade to achieve for each agenda, there is no exception of the "self-help organizations". The Regional Network of Non-government organizations (RNN) Task Force on the Review of the A/P Decade sincerely solicits your kind assistance to help in the review process by completing the questionnaire below. (Note: Here the SHO refers only to organizations of people with disabilities and all the questions related to the context of your country.

Part 1

Please try your best to answer all the questions. Put a "CHECK" wherever appropriate.

1.1 Do you know the total number of self-help organizations in your country?

If yes - please give the number:
If no - can you guess:

1.2 Do you think that each disability group has its own SHO?

Yes
No

If no - Can you name a few groups that are neglected:

1.3 Are there any SHO of parents of people with disabilities?

Yes
No

1.4 Are there any SHO of carers of people with disabilities?

Yes
No

1.5 Are there any cross-disability SHO in your country?

Yes
No

1.6 Do you know or can you guess the size of the largest SHO in your country?

:members

1.7 Do you know or can you guess the size of the smallest SHO in your country?

:members

1.8 For most of the SHO, what is the major source of funding?

1.9 Please describe briefly the significant development of self-help movement of people with disabilities in your country in the past 10 years, i.e. 1993-2002. If possible, please illustrate with examples.

1.10 Despite the achievements of the SHO made in the past 10 years, what would you regard as the greatest challenge ahead?

1.11 As an overall evaluation, how would you rate the effectiveness of SHO development in your country? (Please circle as appropriate. 1 represent the least effective and 10 the most effective.)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Part 2

Here below is the list of specific targets of action set for the Agenda on "SHO". Please circle the number as appropriate to determine the degree of its implementation.

0 = Not implemented at all
1 = Slightly implemented
2 = Fairly implemented
3 = Fully or nearly fully implemented

Part 3

Respondent's information

Name:

Position:

Organization:

Country:

Please return the completed questionnaire by email to Karen Ngai at scngai@cityu.edu.hk or by fax: (852) 2788 7709. Karen Ngai is the convenor of the RNN Task Force on the Review of the "Self-help Organizations" action target of the A/P Decade.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Explanation of a figure

Local Level

The Community of SHOs and Their Leadership:
SHOs" characteristics at the microlevel - organization and management, leadership qualities, inclusion and globalization perspectives
SHOs" characteristics at the macrolevel - coverage of disability types, organizational complexity, national and international networking

National Level

Government and Legislation:
Affirmative policy supporting SHOs, special legislation protecting disabled people

Civil Society:
Initiatives from, and collaborations with, NGOs, including those concerning disability

International Level

Globalization of Disability Issues:
UN and ESCAP initiatives, development assistance from donor country, international NGOs" initiatives