Headings of news:
For Equal Participation of People with Disabilities
CCF-Belarus starts a new project "Expanding Participation of People with Disabilities".
According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, there are over 511,000 of people who have disabilities in Belarus, including over 27,000 children with disabilities. The participatory needs assessment conducted by CCF-Belarus revealed that people with disabilities in Belarus have multiple unmet needs, which cut across all areas of daily life. The role of persons with disabilities and their organizations in information dissemination, raising public awareness, strategic planning and advocacy has been under-appreciated and under-utilized. Persons with disabilities do not get adequate information about their rights, benefits, and services. The existing environment does not enable persons with disabilities to have equal access to public buildings and places and to function independently. The quality of the existing services and approaches does not reflect international models of inclusion of children with disabilities within the mainstream of their communities.
The new project of CCF-Belarus will focus on creating conditions for equal participation of people with disabilities in all areas of life of the society through enhancing capacity of organizations of persons with disabilities, and improving the scope, quality and accessibility of the existing services.
The target groups will include Belarusian organizations of people with disabilities, children and adults with disabilities, family members, caregivers and specialists of state sponsored social protection services, Government officials and policy makers. CCF-Belarus will encourage wide and open participation of all individuals and organizations working with people with disabilities at all stages of project implementation.
Special emphasis within the project will be given to expanding advocacy activities, strengthening leadership of people with disabilities, and introducing best international expertise and practices.
The project will enhance the national response, and all its aspects are in-line with the existing national strategies (National Program "Prevention of Disability and Rehabilitation of People with Disability", National Program "Creating Barrier-Free Environment for People with Disabilities", and Presidential Program "Children of Belarus").
Specific project activities will focus on one of the three priority areas:
Advocacy
Advocacy activities aimed at promoting legitimate rights and interests of people with disabilities will include special efforts for policy and legislative changes at the national and regional levels and public awareness campaigns on encouraging tolerance towards people with disability.
Micro grants
Small grants will be awarded to Belarusian organizations of persons with disabilities, as well as mainstream NGOs. These sub-grants will facilitate the establishment of community-based services and increase access to education, vocational training and opportunities, and social support for children, women, and men with disabilities. The sub-grants will be a major vehicle for piloting innovative services and will also target especially hard-to-reach groups such as those who live in very rural areas. CCF-Belarus will identify organizations and will work with them to design and develop appropriate programs, and monitor their progress.
Capacity building
Capacity building activities will be organized for NGOs, persons with disabilities, family members and community stakeholders. These activities will include trainings on organizational development and specialized workshops on disability-related issues.
Trainings on organizational development will offer Belarusian organizations of persons with disabilities learning and resources on key topics, including: strategic planning, financial management, human resource and volunteer management, public relations, and effective fundraising.
Workshops on specific disability-related issues will build capacity of organizations in initiating innovative services, such as home-based care, early intervention for young children with special needs, the holistic assessment of children with disabilities. These activities will stimulate comprehensive developmental approaches to service delivery in place of solely medical models and will help move professionals toward the role of enablers and developers in partnership with families.
