THE ROLE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
A. The Work of HelpAge International (1)
1. Introduction
HelpAge International (HAI) is a global federation of over 40 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working with and for disadvantaged older people. In the Asian and Pacific region, there are member organizations of HelpAge International in Australia, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. There is a HelpAge Field Office in Cambodia and a Regional Development Centre in Thailand.
2. The role of HelpAge International in promoting accessibility
HelpAge recognizes that some of the elements which account for the existence of handicapping environments include the lack of thought and understanding by the general public, limited advocacy by older and disabled people themselves, a lack of knowledge by professionals on how to create non-handicapping environments, the handicapping impact of poverty, and the need for models and successful examples of appropriate barrier-free design. HelpAge International and its member organizations in the region actively work towards empowering older people, advocacy, training, the provision of services and the prevention of disabilities.
3. Empowerment
In the Asian and Pacific region, older people and people with disabilities have been relatively passive in expressing their aspirations and in seeking justice for their cause. Older people have perceived their role as being within the family setting; consequently, any expression by them of their rights might be wrongly interpreted as a criticism of their family. But as traditions change, older people increasingly see the need to inform others of their needs.
HelpAge International is active in creating opportunities for older people to join together to share and work towards common goals. Older people may be "empowered" in many ways, e.g., through membership of a senior citizens' club, by joining leadership training workshops, by working collectively to produce information sheets and newsletters, by directly participating in consultations with Governments and local authorities, and by playing an active part in community life. Until the public at large recognizes and respects the valuable role which older and disabled people play in society, it is unlikely that the changes needed to create barrier-free environments will come about.
4. Advocacy
While recognizing that older and disabled people are best placed to be their own advocates, HelpAge International members often become advocates on behalf of their constituent groups. Through interactions with older people, HelpAge members are able to obtain views and opinions which can be analysed and used to formulate recommendations. HelpAge members often act as information sources for the mass media and help to highlight matters affecting older people.
5. Training
Throughout the region, HelpAge networks provide training opportunities for those who work with and for older people. National-level training is available in Fiji, India, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Regional-level training is organized and conducted by the Asia Training Centre On Ageing at Chiang Mai, Thailand. There is an annual regional workshop aimed at architects, planners, designers and developers on how to create barrier-free buildings and environments.
6. Provision of services
Facilities provided by HelpAge members have been designed to be non-handicapping and act as examples and models which others might emulate. They include day centres for older people, low-cost housing, residential care and training centres.
HelpAge also attempts to ensure that older people with disabilities can have access to specialized services such as mobile medical units, community-based rehabilitation services, rural employment centres and domiciliary health and home-help services.
7. Prevention of disabilities
A major area of HelpAge International's work is the prevention of disabilities. In Asia, large numbers of older people are blinded by cataracts. By restoring the sight of these persons, disability among them is prevented.
The promotion of healthy and active life-styles among older people helps prevent the onset of disabilities and enables older people to play active roles in society.
8. HAI Regional Development Centre
Based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the Regional Development Centre (RDC), plays an information dissemination and coordination role for HAI's network of member organizations. Biannual regional meetings are held for members to exchange experiences on a wide range of topics concerning the rights of elderly people. This collective awareness and campaigning function has been employed to help members to encourage their Governments to introduce or enact legislation on accessibility for older people and persons with disabilities.
Through its quarterly publication, Ageways, the RDC raises issues affecting older people and makes practical suggestions for solutions. Ageways focuses on numerous matters relating to non-handicapping environments.
The RDC acts as a regional advocate on age-related matters and gives emphasis to the need to incorporate the rights of older people when discussing issues affecting persons with disabilities. The majority of persons with disabilities are older people. A research project into healthy ageing is being undertaken by the RDC. It will analyse the social, cultural, economic and health effects on the well-being of elderly persons in order to establish indicators in rural and urban areas.
9. Asia Training Centre on Ageing (ATCOA)
ATCOA is a regional training facility based at Chiang Mai University, northern Thailand. It provides practical training for those working with and for older people. In 1992, in collaboration with the Asian Institute of Technology, ATCOA ran a two-week training course entitled the "Design of Buildings and the Environment for Older and Disabled Adults". Similar workshops were conducted in Singapore in 1993 and in Chiang Mai in 1994. ATCOA intends to make this an annual contribution to the development of awareness and skills among professionals, people with disabilities and those who commission buildings.
Other training courses organized by ATCOA, such as those on the management of residential homes, focus on ensuring that participants not only know the principles of designing without barriers, but also have enough knowledge to bring about change. Developers and architects often consult skilled ATCOA members at the design phase of new buildings. This consultancy facility is now part of ATCOA's regular services.
By recognizing that older people and their carers are often unable to obtain advice and guidance on how to deal with disabilities which may arise in later life, ATCOA has developed a series of three video packs which focus on rehabilitation of the elderly with disabilities. These videos, produced in Asia, are accompanied by illustrated handbooks. They give practical advice on improving access and mobility, on how to acquire and make simple devices to enhance daily living, and how to select and use simple mobility devices.
10. HelpAge Sri Lanka
Founded in 1986, HelpAge Sri Lanka is now the largest national voluntary age-care organization in Sri Lanka. It is unique in that it provides direct services to older people, as well as raises funds locally to support programmes organized by other NGOs for disadvantaged, older persons. It is active in the promotion of non-handicapping environments. The three-storey building housing HelpAge Sri Lanka provides access and accommodation for wheelchair users.
HelpAge Sri Lanka runs a community transport system which enables older persons with disabilities to be mobile in their community. To encourage barrier-free design, HelpAge Sri Lanka built a model day-care centre. It was constructed using low-cost local materials and is accessible to all.
As a member of the national committee on ageing, HelpAge Sri Lanka has been influential in advocating the access needs of older people. Through its training department, HelpAge Sri Lanka organizes courses on leadership skills to help develop confidence in older people to campaign for their rights. The training department runs an annual awareness and exposure workshop for architects, engineers and planners. The workshop illustrates what it is like to be disabled and explores ways of creating barrier-free buildings and environments.
11. Helping Hand Hong Kong
The HelpAge member organization, Helping Hand Hong Kong, promotes access to domestic accommodation and residential care centres for older people.
Helping Hand recently opened the first, purpose-built holiday home and rest/care centre in Hong Kong. It offers older people the opportunity to escape for a few weeks each year from the pressures of living in a high-rise, high-density environment. In the rest/care centre, they can enjoy the peace and pleasures of the New Territories. Here they can discover new talents by taking part in sports, hobbies, fitness classes, swimming, or simply relax and chat with new friends. All facilities in this residential unit have been designed to ensure that persons with all levels of disability can make maximum use of the opportunities provided. Within a few months of opening, the centre attracted visitors from all over the region who studied its concept and design.
12. HelpAge India
India's largest organization concerned with the quality of life of older disadvantaged people is HelpAge India. It supports a large number and range of projects in urban and rural areas. These are mainly run by local, voluntary, age-care organizations.
By facilitating the development of residential and community-based projects, HelpAge India is well placed to encourage similar organizations to adopt approaches and designs which maximize accessibility for older and disabled adults. Awareness is further enhanced by a series of "exposure workshops" organized by HelpAge India. These illustrate planning and design facilities for older people. HelpAge India is frequently involved in government consultations on the development of access legislation.
HelpAge India enables older and disabled persons in slums in Delhi to secure access to health care. It provides a mobile unit which takes medical and pharmacy services to 12 of the poorest areas every week.
13. HelpAge Thailand
In Bangkok's largest slum, Klong Toey, the local community made available part of their modest community centre. It became the base for an outreach programme to provide rehabilitative services to older people with physical and mental disabilities. The project is organized by the Centre for Educational Research in Gerontology and the Clinical Centre for Geriatric Medicine. It is funded by HelpAge International. The local community regards it as its own and has been keen to ensure that all elderly people with disabilities receive service. The equipment, mobility devices and aids to daily living which are stored at the community centre have never been damaged, lost or stolen as people regard them as their collective assets.
Medical examinations, rehabilitation sessions, and senior citizens health clubs are organized within the slum area so that people feel comfortable and able to attend. Special transport is provided weekly for those who would benefit from attending a day centre at a hospital in the city centre.
HelpAge International works in partnership with a self-help organization of people with visual impairments. It has created employment opportunities by providing capital to start small enterprises. Knowledge and skills to do this are provided during training courses.
14. Golden Age Foundation, Malaysia
Through its organized groups of "Friends", this Foundation is drawing attention to the difficulties older people experience in using public transport. Older people often have difficulty going on holiday because of transport difficulties, inadequate provision of accessible hotels, high costs, and lack of companionship. Noting these restrictions, the Golden Age Foundation is currently working with travel agents to ensure that the holiday needs of older people are met.
The Foundation plans to hold a national "Golden Awards Ceremony" to celebrate the achievements of eight older people. Corporations and business enterprises which have contributed most to creating facilities and environments conducive to the needs of older people will also receive awards. It is hoped that these activities will create greater public awareness and encourage other businesses to follow.
15. Japan Well-Ageing Association
The Japan Well-Ageing Association was established in 1953. By the 1990s it had 66 corporate members, eight group members and 469 individual members. The Association now has the opportunity to influence decision-makers. The Association runs conferences, workshops and produces regular publications on the needs and aspirations of older people. The Association also acts as a resource bank and information centre for its members on all aspects of the international population of older persons.
The Association has been active in encouraging the incorporation of older and disabled people's special needs in the design of a wide range of products manufactured by their corporate members by providing the opportunity for corporate executives and designers to experience what it is like to be disabled. Through a series of experiential workshops called "Through Their Eyes", the Association is helping to ensure that consumer durables and products which are in everyday use are designed to be user- friendly.
B. Experience of the National Federation of the Blind, India (2)
1. Introduction
Concern over improving accessibility to persons with disabilities and elderly persons in India came into focus after the proclamation by ESCAP of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002. The overall accessibility situation with respect to the built environment for persons with disabilities and the elderly is not very encouraging.
In India, NGOs have very recently taken up accessibility issues. As the first step they are both jointly and separately identifying the minimum accessibility requirements of each disability group vis-a-vis buildings, roads, the public transport system and communications. Efforts are under way to review the relevant regulatory laws in these areas like building by-laws, the Motor Vehicle Act, etc., and to suggest suitable amendments to such laws to include basic accessibility requirements. The building code developed by the Indian Bureau of Standards to promote accessibility to buildings is being reviewed by the NGOs before advocating its inclusion in the building by-laws. A dialogue has been initiated with the Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology to include accessibility requirements in rural housing and road development programmes. A committee on accessibility has also been constituted in the Ministry of Welfare of the Government of India to formulate and develop accessibility policies and legislation.
2. Self-help organizations of disabled persons and accessibility
Self-help organizations have successfully played an advocacy role on accessibility issues. They are now engaged in assessing the basic accessibility requirements of persons with disabilities. The self-help organizations are also playing an advisory role to develop building models, models of railway stations, train coaches, etc., to promote accessibility.
3. Activities of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
The National Federation of the Blind is closely associated with the formulation of comprehensive legislation for persons with disabilities, including access provisions. As a self-help movement, the federation identifies the needs of persons with disabilities and tries to meet such needs. It also runs programmes for its branches and affiliates in the fields of education, training and employment and community-based rehabilitation.
4. Activities concerning accessibility
Since 1980, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) has been advocating comprehensive legislation for persons with disabilities covering all areas of life. Since then, it has created an awareness among political leaders and civil servants about the need for such legislation. After the proclamation of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, it has undertaken advocacy of accessibility requirements in the relevant regulatory laws and rules. It has started lobbying Members of Parliament of different political parties and civil servants for legislative support to improve the quality of the access to the built environment for persons with disabilities.
The NFB has constituted a publicity committee to undertake awareness campaigns about the issues, including accessibility, concerning persons with disabilities.
The committee has been constituted to evaluate the present accessibility situation with respect to buildings, roads and public transport systems.
A positive relationship has been established between the National Federation of the Blind and government agencies responsible for accessibility through the Committee on Accessibility. There is a constant dialogue between government agencies and non-governmental organizations.
5. Achievements of the NFB in promoting accessibility
The NFB has been successful in persuading the Government to amend the Motor Vehicle Act to provide for amended specifications for motor vehicles to be plied on roads according to the accessibility needs of persons with disabilities. The responsibility for suggesting such amendments has also been entrusted to the NFB.
6. Recommendations for strengthening the role of non-governmental organizations in the promotion of barrier-free environments
Non-governmental organizations should be given an advisory role from the beginning of the planning process of urban and rural development. Local self-help organizations of people with disabilities should be represented on the committees empowered to finalize city master plans and rural development programmes like housing, road development, drinking water amenities, sanitation, etc.
Non-governmental organizations and self-help organizations of people with disabilities should be closely associated with civic bodies and local community groups to assess in an ongoing fashion the accessibility needs of persons with disabilities and elderly persons.
A linkage should be established between self-help organizations of people with disabilities and professional associations and educational institutions, particularly those in charge of imparting education in the field of architecture, automobile engineering, etc.
In the proposed legislation and policy provisions relating to accessibility, the NGOs should be involved both in its implementation and enforcement.
NGOs working with disabilities should be represented on committees attached to state transport authorities responsible for surface transport, railway advisory committees and the committee for civil aviation.
C. The Contribution of Handicapped's Anchor in Christ, Inc.(HACI)
to Accessibility in Cebu City, Philippines
(3)
1. Introduction
During the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, 1983-1983, two laws of importance for disabled Filipinos were passed. One is the BP 344 commonly know as the Accessibility Law. The law was signed in February 1983 by the then President and promulgated by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and the Ministry of Public Works and Highways. The Law was defined as "an act to enhance the mobility of disabled persons by requiring certain buildings, institutions, establishments and public utilities to install facilities and other devices." However, this law had not been seriously enforced for several years.
By 1988, Cebu City, the second largest city in the Philippines, saw the formation of a coalition of government agencies and non-governmental organizations called the Organization of Rehabilitation Agencies (ORA). This comprised some 30 agencies and organizations directly rendering services to persons with disabilities, including physical and social rehabilitation, special education, vocational training, housing, employment and referral services.
One of the coalition members of ORA was an organization called the Handicapped's Anchor in Christ, Inc. (HACI). HACI was formed in 1985 by a small group of disabled persons and their friends as an organization of and for disabled persons. The aim of the HACI was to raise the level of awareness concerning the basic rights of disabled persons and to draw attention of the Government and society to their plight and need for respect and recognition as equal members of society.
Together with ORA, HACI took the first steps in calling upon the local government to renew its commitment to people with disabilities in Cebu City through the implementation of the Accessibility Law. HACI expressed its willingness to cooperate with the local government in the effort to improve accessibility of people with disabilities. The city government favourably responded and acted upon HACI's suggestion that one of HACI's members, a disabled architect, be employed in the Office of the Building Official (OBO) to inspect all building plans to ensure that accessible features for the disabled persons be incorporated into the building design.
Later, as the Regional Council for Welfare of Disabled Persons (RCWDP) was formed with ORA as one of its members, HACI undertook accessibility as one of its main advocacy projects and was assigned by RCWDP to be the lead organization on accessibility. Soon, there was need for more vigorous campaigning for proper implementation of the Accessibility Law and several strategies were undertaken with success, due to the support of RCWDP and ORA and the cooperation of the city government. The results of these efforts have been:
- The formation of an Accessibility Monitoring Committee created by the mayor, which has discretion over the approval and disapproval of building permits. The Committee undertakes monitoring with teams composed of disabled persons, citing violations by architects and building owners, and identifies loopholes in the law and finds ways for more effective implementation of accessibility provisions.
- kerb-cuts in the streets of Cebu City have been made and more public places have become accessible. Access features in public dwellings are now compulsory in Cebu City.
- The Cebu City Integrated Traffic Office Management has become responsible for making the city roads and streets accessible, and supervises the installation of access pavements, kerb-cuts, parking areas and street signs.
- HACI has been deputized by the local transportation office to install stickers bearing access signs on public vehicles and to orient drivers on their responsibilities under the law in accommodating passengers with disabilities.
1. Based on paper by Finlay Craig, Regional Representative, Asia, HelpAge International, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
2. Based on a paper by Santosh K. Rungta, General Secretary, National Federation of the Blind, New Delhi, India.
3. Based on papers by Adela A. Kono, former Secretary of the Accessibility Monitoring Committee under the Office of the Cebu City Mayor (1991), and Angel Lazaro, Jr., Member, Federation of Organizations for Disabled Persons in the Philippines, Inc. (KAMPI), Quezon City, The Philippines.
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ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Promotion of Non-Handicapping Physical Environments for Disabled Persons: Case Studies
- Chapter 6 -
UNITED NATIONS
New York, 1995