Community-Based Inclusive Development
CBID Good Practices
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
There are a number of international frameworks for persons with disabilities that include the Asia-Pacific region, for example, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), the Community-based Rehabilitation Guidelines (2010), the Millennium Development Goals (2000), and the Incheon Strategy (2012), which is a policy guideline for the New Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities（2013-2022）adopted at the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
The purpose of these international frameworks is the implementation of Community-based Inclusive Development (CBID). This means that society and community should be inclusive, where no vulnerable groups of people, like persons with disabilities, are excluded. CBID also shows the current achievement level of Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR), which has taken place in developing countries since 1970s. CBR is often known for approaches developed abroad, but as we conducted surveys in the process of collecting these CBID good practices, we have come to realize there are many good examples to be found right here in Japan that are likewise based on CBID concepts.
Creation of a CBID Good Practices Collection
In the Asian and Pacific region, CBID good practices have been collected since 2014. We, too, have collected successful cases in Japan, with the cooperation of the Nippon Foundation, and have come to know a variety of sample cases. In gathering them, we looked closely from the perspective of CBR guidelines, and specially CBID. In so doing, we were able to focus attention on the following: the challenges/problems of the community; the available resources in the community that could be used to solve those problems; the resources, manpower and networks needed; the collaboration with stakeholders; the changes they have brought about; the support obtained from the formal and informal sectors; and the local approaches within the communities. While collecting CBID good practices, we have begun to understand the uniqueness of their approaches. These CBID good practices have been collected in the hope of promoting CBID concepts far and wide by introducing great examples from the Asia and Pacific region, as well as from Japan.
Having researched and collected many CBID cases, the 10 most successful ones from all over Japan were chosen. One of them, the Kusanone Mutual Support Project, shall be introduced at the Asia-Pacific CBR Congress to represent Japanese CBID efforts.
The following are the 10 good practices that depict the various approaches made by the organizations and communities:
(1) Ikema Welfare Support Center (Specified Non-profit Organization) (Miyakojima City, Okinawa Prefecture)
In a small island with a serious depopulation problem, Ikema Welfare Support Center began community-based long-term care services for the elderly. Their endeavors to revitalize the community by utilizing the wisdom of the elderly deserve attention.
(2) Mugino-sato” of “Ichibakukai” (Social Welfare Corporation) (Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture)
The achievement of Mugino-sato is having created a major welfare center through the effective use of existing systems.
(3) Kusanone Mutual Support Project (General Incorporated Association) (Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture)
While establishing a network of various support organizations, the Kusanone Mutual Support Project provides support to those who had no access to existing support networks. Their main use of functioning networks and outreach activities that are not based in the city is a pioneering approach. Their case was introduced as a good example of CBID in the April 2014 issue of “Enable,” a UN newsletter on disabilities.
(4) Cocoron (Social Welfare Corporation) (Izumizaki Village, Nishi-Shirakawa-gun, Fukushima Prefecture)
The unique aspect of Cocoron is that they assist their members with mental disabilities by providing livelihood and employment support and counseling through agricultural activities with a business perspective.
(5) JHC Itabashi-kai (Clubhouse Sun Marina) (Social Welfare Corporation) (Itabashi Ward, Tokyo)
Sun Marina’s endeavor is a local counterpart of the Clubhouse movement in which both users and supporters are regarded as equal partners and share information between them.
(6) Howawa Day Care Center for Children (Musou, Social Welfare Corporation) (Setagaya Ward, Tokyo)
Howawa provides support to children aged 0–6 years old, who require special medical care, such as children using mechanical ventilators, children who have had tracheotomy or gastric fistula, and children who require special medical attention for some other reasons. The support is given so that they can continue to live in their communities. Such services are possible only where there is collaboration among medical, nursing and welfare sectors; and such services are still quite limited in Japan.
(7) Nowami Consultation Center (Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture)
Nowami Consultation Center gives support to various people in need, particularly homeless persons. By conducting workshops focusing on these people, it aims to help them gain back their independence without having to depend on public assistance.
(8) Huck-no-Ie (Specified Non-profit Organization) (Tanohata Village, Shimohei-gun, Iwate Prefecture)
Around Huck-no-Ie, there exists a community where people with and without disabilities live side by side. While involving the community, Huck-no-Ie established mutually supportive relationships to meet the community’s needs, such as places for senior citizens to gather, children who cannot attend school without support, and those needing help with child rearing. With these objectives it has managed to link up with other communities, especially after the major earthquake and tsunami disasters of 2011.
(9) “Tekito-” Higashi-Omi Region Employment and Life Support Center (Higashi-Omi City, Shiga Prefecture)
“Tekito-” offers employment and livelihood support to persons with disabilities and people who are socially withdrawn through the collaboration of 480 companies and establishments. Since Higashiomi area is known for lively civic activities, through these, “Tekito-” has been able to create opportunities from encounters with various companies and establishments. These encounters have led “Tekito-” to also deal with other community issues besides disability.
(10) Musou (Social Welfare Corporation) (Handa city, Aichi Prefecture)
No matter how severe the level of disabilities are, Musou provides personal support services to persons with disabilities so they can continue living in the community. Its comprehensive services cover education, work, daily life and opportunities that promote the development of children into adulthood or those in old age.
CBR Matrix and CBID
In many developing countries of the Asia and Pacific region, CBR as a method has been used to improve the lives of persons with disabilities and their families. CBID is the advanced model of CBR, alongside the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that was enacted, and its specific details are stipulated in CBR Guidelines (2010).
The CBR Matrix in the previous page can explain the level of CBID simply yet comprehensively. With it, one can have a comprehensive picture of community-related programs to be implemented.
This CBR Matrix is a tool to assess how much of the activities conducted by organizations, establishments and the community have managed to achieve social inclusion, and thus can be used to assess the degree of satisfaction in the individual’s life. In this collection of good practices, we analyzed each case by using the CBR Matrix. With this tool, one can see through comparison how much social inclusion has grown from the beginning of endeavors until the present time.
Perspectives on CBID
In summarizing the collected good practices, we have created a conceptual diagram to measure their CBID. For that we have chosen specific points to consider: A. Area; B. Issues; C. Inclusive Approaches; D. Service/Project Management (including financial resources and networks); E. Target Groups for Empowerment; F. Results (including impact on families and community).
Perspectives on CBID
(Figure text)
Let us analyze those 10 good practices according to these CBID perspectives.
A. Area:
They can be classified into “major city” (3), “small city” (4) and “farming/mountain/fishing village” (4). Since they are more or less equally distributed among 3 categories, we can tell that the CBID approach is taking place in both rural and urban areas. This feature is unique to Japan since CBR is usually conducted in rural areas in the developing countries of the Asia and Pacific region.
B. Issues:
This column shows what many challenges these good practices have tackled in their communities, such as problems caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake, community healthcare/welfare, while offering services to various types of people such as persons with mental/intellectual disabilities, children needing special medical care, the elderly in need of long-term care, the homeless, and people suffering from social isolation. In the developing countries of the Asia and Pacific region, CBR is used mainly to support persons with disabilities and to alleviate poverty. In the case of Japan, there are various issues CBR can cover.
C. Inclusive Approaches:
As you will see, there are various means towards inclusion. In many cases, activities are held in activity centers, but in some cases like the Kusanone Mutual Support Project, they work mainly through outreach and coordination. While some have managed to involve local business people as a local resource, others have started businesses by effectively utilizing the needs and potentials of persons with disabilities.
D. Service/Project Management (including financial resources and networks):
The types of management entities range from social welfare corporations, authorized NPOs (non-profit organizations), to organizations with no corporate status. Their main sources of revenue usually comes from payment from the national government’s welfare services for persons with disabilities and/or long-term care insurance; however, due to budget constraints in recent years, some organizations have become less dependent on payment from public systems and have started their own social projects or community businesses whose incomes could be used to further improve their services. Diverse networks with the government and organizations in community are also being actively developed. This situation is very different from that of developing countries in Asia and Pacific region. As most of them cannot count on the financial support of their governments, they tend to rely on support from domestic and international NGOs besides local resources.
E. Target Groups for Empowerment:
While many organizations focus on persons with mental and intellectual disabilities as target beneficiaries, some provide services to children and the elderly. Their coverage is ever increasing, which demonstrates their commitment and efforts to build an inclusive society.
F. Results (including impact on service users [families] and the community):
Many organizations have reported that there has been an improvement in the empowerment of their target groups (persons with disabilities, the elderly and the socially isolated). Furthermore, the people in the community and the way they conducted their activities have been transformed. This means that the Twin Track Approach to promote CBID is taking place, empowering persons with disabilities and mainstreaming them into community. Ms. Maya Thomas, a world authority on CBR, says that all of these 10 Japanese cases are modeling this Twin Track Approach, and therefore can be acknowledged as valid approaches to CBID.
Conclusion:
It has been widely thought that there were no CBR or CBID approaches that existed in Japan, but the studies we conducted have proven that community-based approaches have definitely been practiced. These approaches are not inferior to those practiced in other countries. When the Japanese economy was developing steadily, most of the Japanese people thought they belonged to the comfortable middle class, but since the “lost decade” of the 1990s and this age of globalization, Japan has been facing a number of problems. Some of the major social issues include poverty due to unstable, temporary jobs, and an aging society with fewer children, which is already a serious problem. Solutions to these challenges, however, not only require policy changes, but also community-based approaches. In fact, revitalizing communities is an effective way to cope with globalization. That is probably why CBID approaches have taken root in Japan, because the challenges of the community need to be dealt with by the people within the community. The gaps between developed countries like Japan and developing countries are shrinking as we all share common issues such as the gap between rich and poor, poverty, and breakdown of community. The time has come for us to learn from one another and share each other’s wisdom in addressing these common challenges together. CBID can indeed be used as an effective tool to address the common issues of the world.
This Asia-Pacific CBR Congress is going to be a wonderful opportunity for country representatives to present and share their effective approaches to CBID.