Annual Rapport Handicap International

8/6/2019 Annual Rapport Handicap International

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ANNUAL REPORT 2009_ BELGIAN SECTION


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CONTENTS

Responsible editor: Jan BrigouHandicap InternationalRue de Spa, 67 - 1000 Brussels - Belgium

Tel. : 0032 (0)2 280 16 01Fax : 0032 (0)2 230 60 30E-mail : [email protected]

www.handicap-international.be

Account number: 000-0000077-77IBAN : BE80 0000 0000 7777BIC : BPOTBEB1

Editors: Wendy Huyghe, Aurore Van VoorenLay-out/Design: Beltza (Chiquinquir Garca)Printing: Nevelland (Entreprise de travail adapt)Translation: ISO TranslationFront page image : D. TELEMANS

Free publication.Contact Handicap International for extra copies.Een Nederlandstalige versie is op verzoek beschikbaar.Une version franaise est galement disponible.

Forewordpage 03

Approach by themespage 06

Programmes overviewpage 15

Financial reportpage 29


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MARC JOOLEN_BELGIUM.

Solidanza was intended to be nothing more

than a solidarity dance event, held in the presti-

gious setting of the BrusselsStockExchange. But

what I will always remember about the weekend

was thehuman warmththatprevailed during the

two days, the able-bodied and the less able-bo-

died, the young and the old, all together on the

dance floor. This is a powerful image for an orga-

nisation such as ours, which, in its projects, fights

for a more inclusive society.

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FOREWORD


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ANNUAL REPORT 2009 | HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL04 |

As witnessed by our teams on a daily basis,people with disabilities are ever morevulnerable in such a climate. For them,finding work under normal circumstances isno mean feat, but now it is becoming quitesimply impossible. Furthermore, they arethe first to be sacrificed for the commongood, as families give preference to thosefamily members that can ensure its survival.It is now more crucial than ever to stressthe importance of the United NationsConvention on the Rights of Persons withDisabilities. Handicap International strivesto promote this convention in its variousprogrammes. It must be emphasised thatdisabled people have the same rights - the

right to education, to health and to work -as able-bodied people.

Fortunately, it is reassuring that, despite thecrisis, Handicap International was able tosteer a successful course through the stormand continue implementing its projects.This is the result of a huge effort initiatedthree years ago to provide greater financialvisibility and to define our operationalstrategy. Handicap International has indeedchanged a great deal. In the past, theorganisation clearly focused on specialistfields directly linked to the treatment

of disability, such as physiotherapy andorthopaedics. The move towards a moreholistic, cross-cutting approach and greaterdiversification in our work began a fewyears ago. We must now strike a balancebetween the direct support provided todisabled people and this more socialapproach so as to cover all the needs ofthose that benefit from our work, whilstalso focusing on disability prevention.

In 2009, many programmes initiated in2008 were brought to fruition. This isespecially the case in the Congo, where thematernal and infant health project reachedits full scope and became one of our

flagship projects in Kinshasa. It can now bereproduced in other provinces in the countryover the coming years.

Likewise, as regards our emergency reliefwork, after 2008, a year in which weprovided support following the earthquakein Sichuan and the cyclones in Myanmarand Cuba, 2009 was a year of stabilisation.Our project in China has now entered apost-emergency phase and our initiativesfor disabled people affected by thesenatural disasters reached completion inMyanmar and Cuba.

In 2009, it was satisfying to see the issueof road safety become a key focus area formany international bodies such as theUnited Nations. For nearly ten years,Handicap International has practically beenthe only international non-governmentalorganisation working in the field of roadaccident prevention. We have achievedtangible results with our projects inVietnam, Cambodia and Laos. But despiteencouraging progress in these countries,the problem of road safety is still a majorpublic health concern. An international roadsafety conference organised by the UnitedNations was held in Moscow in November2009. Handicap International was invited to

speak and to share its experiences in thefield. This conference should lead to atreaty to curb road danger. Road accidentsare still one of the major causes of deathand disability in developing countries. Thisproblem has been evident for many years inAsia and is also significant in Africa, acontinent on which Handicap Internationalintends to launch new road safetyinitiatives in the near future.

Our organisation has also been active in thefight against another scourge responsible forshattering so many lives: cluster munitions.

Last year, while preparing the annual report for 2008, a year that ended with an unprecedented financial crisis,I asked the question, What will the future look like? Is it not true that at the start of 2009, no-one could havepredicted the effect the impacts of this crisis would have? A year later, at the time of writing this, we have seenthat in most countries in which we work, and especially in Africa, the recession has hit hard. Many families havelost their source of income; there is no work for anyone.

D.

BEELS

-HI


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05 |HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL | ANNUAL REPORT 2009

One might think that, after the signing ofthe Convention on Cluster Munitions in Osloin December 2008, the issue was settledand the cause won. Nothing could befurther from the truth. A treaty will gounheeded without ratification by thesignatory states. Handicap International andBan Advocates (a group of people whoselives have been affected by clustermunitions) therefore continued their workand made it clear to the states that therewas still much work to be done and

successfully so as 30 countries ratified theOslo Convention at the beginning of 2010;it will therefore come into force on 1 August2010.

The treaty banning landmines also requiresour continued attention, even 12 years afterit was signed. It was, moreover, the subjectof a critical review in December 2009 at thesecond Review Conference of the Treaty,which was held in Cartagena, Colombia atthe end of 2009. In fact, for ten years, thevarious stakeholders have focused on themost visible aspect of the problem: mine

clearance. As a consequence, less attentionhas been given to supporting landminevictims and their families. In 2009,Handicap International published its Voicesfrom the Ground report that associateswith these victims, left alone to cope withthe daily problems confronting them sincetheir accident. This report was presentedfor the first time at the United NationsConference on Disarmament in Geneva andissued in several countries. It was used asa reference document at the CartagenaConference and, I sincerely believe, helpedraise awareness that it was high time to

take an interest in the human aspect of thelandmine problem and to improve theOttawa Treaty in this regard.

The end of 2009 marked another importantstage in our activities: our withdrawal fromthe Maldives after five years of work tosupport disabled people. HandicapInternational started working in this countryafter the devastating tsunami of 26December 2004, whilst also providingsupport to victims in Indonesia, Thailand

and Sri Lanka. We have been working onthe reconstruction of the affected areas forfive years, focusing particularly on disabledpeople whose specific needs, as we haveoften stressed, are still not sufficientlytaken into consideration in aid programmes.The projects set up by Handicap Internationalin the Maldives are now fully managed byour partners and will continue on theircourse.

The end of the year was packed with avariety of events and I would like to

mention the event that took place inBrussels on the weekend of 5 and 6December 2009. In fact, Solidanza wasintended to be nothing more than asolidarity dance event, held in theprestigious setting of the Brussels StockExchange. But what I will always rememberabout the weekend was the human warmththat prevailed during the two days, theable-bodied and the less able-bodied, theyoung and the old, all together on thedance floor. This is a powerful image foran organisation such as ours, which, in itsprojects, fights for a more inclusive society.

FOREWORD

I.

PATEER-HI

In 2009, Handicap International thereforemanaged to overcome the odds. Theorganisation has extraordinary resilience.With patience, endurance, creativity andbelief in the organisations purpose, theBelgian section of Handicap Internationalstood the test and became stronger. Whatgives an organisation its strength is thepeople that are a part of it and everyone,field teams (both national and expatriatestaff), staff at headquarters and volunteersalike, contributed to this change.

For the past three years, we have beenstriving to build a coherent strategy for ourdevelopment projects. Despite continueduncertainty in the global economic environ-ment, we have the courage to anticipatethe future. We have greater financialvisibility and we are communicating betterabout who we are and what we do. Thisstrategy is paying off. This is what theorganisation, i.e. the people that work forHandicap International, has achieved.

Of course, I will remain cautious, since this

development is still fragile. But I have fullconfidence in the future of Handicap Inter-national Belgium.

Marc JoolenGeneral Director


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KENGKEO_LAO PDR.

Laos is teeming with unexploded remnants of

war and I too am keen to do something to limit

the danger, explains Kengkeo,who is head of mine

clearance operations. We still have several years

of work ahead of us before we can eradicate all

these unexplodedremnants of war from areas of

population

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THEMES

T.

DIRVEN-HANDICAPINTERNATIONAL


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National Staff_the basis of our work


On 1 September 2008, Patrick Chirwisa and Jean-Pierre Bolima, two members of the Handicap Internationalteam in Kisangani, were tragically killed in an aeroplane accident. At the time, Patrick was working for the mineawareness project, excelling at collecting data on the issue. Jean-Pierre was the cornerstone of the same project.Through the power of theatre, he was able to unite hundreds of people around important messages on childand adult safety. Their sudden deaths rocked the Kisangani team, emotionally of course, but also for the qualityof the work that they had been doing.This tragic eventhighlighted to what extentnational staff form the backboneof Handicap International's programmes.

When talking about international organisations, many have a view- somewhat inherited from the post-colonial era - of Westerners,armed with good will and enthusiasm, setting out to help thedisadvantaged inhabitants of developing countries. This image isgreatly outdated. It forgets that, whatever the context, nationalstaff are the essential foundation of humanitarian organisations.Handicap International is not an exception, quite the contrary. In2009, the programmes managed by the Belgian section of HandicapInternational comprised 612 national staff compared to 61 expatriate

staff.

Looking more closely at the make-up of the field teams, we can seethat their entire composition has changed. For example, amongthe eight members of the international team on our programme inChina, there were six different nationalities in 2009 (Belgian,French, Australian, Filipino, Indian and British). And people fromdeveloping countries can also be found on expatriate teams. Atthe same time, the position of national staff has also changed,with recruitment for posts that were previously given to expatriatesnow being carried out in the country itself. This stems from a globaltrend that intensified at the beginning of the decade and whichaims to increase the role of locally-recruited human resources.

Handicap International has followed this trend. If we study theproportion of expatriate staff to national staff in Cambodia, China,Laos and Vietnam, we can see that, in the past three years, more

than 90% of posts have been occupied by nationals. As the numberof projects in these countries has not decreased, it is the sign ofa major trend; national staff are increasingly being given projectleadership posts. They are therefore involved in discussionsregarding Handicap International's programme strategy developmentand not simply in the mere implementation of a particular project.Socheata Sann was taken on in 2004 as awareness project officerfor the road safety programme in Cambodia. She is now roadsafety programme manager in this country and road safety

initiative coordinator for the South-East Asia region. She has justled an exploratory mission to launch a new project in this field inBenin. She has therefore experienced this change. In thebeginning, national staff occupied project manager posts. But, littleby little, I noticed a change. The Cambodian team has become moreinvolved in management, in strategic discussions regarding medium-and long-term initiatives, and not simply in the day-to-day runningof the projects. We have also been entrusted with increasing respon-sibility at a higher level. I, for example, replaced an expatriate in thepost of programme manager.

Since its creation, Handicap International has placed emphasis onthe need to train skilled staff, capable of eventually taking over theinitiatives implemented and of ensuring their continuity and their

quality during the project transfer phase. This is confirmed bySocheata: The international team were careful to provide supportand training that was adapted to each individual. I, for example,

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had theopportunity to followa one-month course in Sweden on roadsafety.The teams working for the road safety projects in Cambodia,Laos and Vietnam have also had the opportunity to regularly attend

seminars held by the University of Hasselt in Belgium. Sometimes,students from our Belgian universities even carry out fieldplacements in these countries. As such, we have agreements withthe UCL (Universit Catholique de Louvain), which, every year forthe past ten years, has sent physiotherapy students to Vietnam onwork placements in centres for patients with paraplegia andquadriplegia.

The impact of this policy to develop national staff can be seen in afield as sensitive as mine clearance and bomb disposal operations.In Kisangani, Handicap International made a clear choice toenhance the capacities of the team of national officers working onthe mine clearance programme so as to leave people capable oftaking up the torch in the fight against mines after our withdrawal,planned for 2011. Four members of staff - Mario, Jason, Rama andTobin - were selected to follow courses given by the Centre forHumanitarian Mine Action Training (CPADD) in Benin. UNMACC,the mine action coordinating body in the Congo, agreed to a specialdispensation to allow our four members of staff to work without thedirect supervision of an expatriate. This was due recognition of ourdesire to develop our teams Congolese staff,adds Stephan Jooris,operational coordinator in charge of managing the DR Congoprogramme in Brussels.

Likewise in Laos, bomb disposal teams work without expatriatesupervision, previously required due to the lack of national stafftrained in this extremely specialised field. Now, Kengkeo Boulipavonemanages the clearance operations. He was a member of one ofthe first classes to graduate from the mine clearance school in Ylai.

As manager of clearance operations, I link the office in Xepon withthe office in Vientiane.At thesame time, I also need to stay in contactwith the component responsible for raising awareness about the

dangers of unexploded ordnance (UXO). The rest is field work,supervising and assisting the teams whenever they need technicalsupport.I contact them byradio on a daily basis; I haveto check thateverything is in order.

The Suleymaniah rehabilitation centre (Iraq) is another goodexample of the quality of the work carried out by national staff.Handicap International worked hard to set up a local organisation,KORD, capable of taking over the centre. Authority was transferredin 2005. Since that time, Handicap International has merely providedKORD with limited support to maintain a balance in theorganisations finances. And in 2009, the region's authoritiesrecognised the quality of the services provided by KORD for peoplewith disabilities.

At every level, the national members of the field teams are of crucialimportance. Indeed, who is better than them to establish contactwith the beneficiaries of our work and conduct effective awareness-raising campaigns that take account of the context and culture ofthe country?

This trend towards developing the capacity of national staff is adefining change that will continue in the years to come, in thehumanitarian world in general and for Handicap International inparticular. The importance and value of the national teams workingfor Handicap International is widely recognised. All have beeninstrumental in the success of our projects and it was high time tohighlight their importance to the organisation.

ANNUAL REPORT 2009 | HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL08 |


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Handicap International_

helps people with disabilitiesassert their own rights

Mon Siup, a Cambodian woman who has been blind since birth, lived in total isolation for 38 years, until theday she joined a disabled peoples group. This helped me meet other people with disabilities and also helpedme learn, under the impetus of Handicap International, how we can defend our rights. Mon Siup and herorganisation recently celebrated their first victory: the covered market will now be made accessible to peoplewith disabilities. By supporting local organisations, Handicap International can effect big and small changesin the everyday lives of people with disabilities.

In eight of the 12 countries in which we work, HandicapInternational supports organisations of and for people withdisabilities: DPR Korea, China, Laos, Cambodia, Burundi, Angola,Cuba and Colombia. We assist these organisations and help themlearn to defend their rights themselves. On 13 December 2006, therights of persons with disabilities were set out in the United

Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Thisconvention is special in that it introduceda new approach to workingfor people with disabilities. These people are no longer consideredbeneficiariesof charitable acts, medical care and social welfare. Thisnew approach places focus on the actual person! A person who hasrights, the capacity to assert them and the capacity to makedecisions concerning themselves on their own account, explains

Jeroen Stol. He launched Handicap International projects in theMaldives and Cambodia that encourage organisations to defendthe rights of people with disabilities. The conventionis not a magicwand. It provides a framework that should be used as a basis forlegislation and national policies. People with disabilities will becomeincreasingly aware of theirrights, but most importantly, it is up to civilsociety to give them the tools they need to assert those rights.

Three pillars

The convention therefore forms the basis of Handicap Internationalswork. There are three objectives behind our activities, explainsSophie Wyseur, Technical Advisor at Handicap Internationalsheadquarters in Belgium. Firstly, we want to enhance the capacities oflocal disabled people's organisations. For this, we start by analysingthe organisation: what stage is it at and what type of aid would beuseful to it? Our assistance is often focused around managementand internal strategy. For example, we ensure the proper democraticfunctioning of these organisations and that they represent a well-defined group. We also offer training and advice.

Raising awareness of the theme of disability is our second key areaof activity. In developing countries, people with disabilities are oftenthe victims of discrimination. To change attitudes, we organiseawareness campaigns aimed at the public, the authoritiesand peoplewith disabilities themselves. They often have a low self-image, hencethe need to encourage them to see themselves differently,explains

Sophie Wyseur. As part of these campaigns, we publish articles inthe press and broadcast radio and television commercials. In additionto all this, we also conduct local-level activities; in villages, smalltheatrical performances or role-plays often produce verygood results.

A third pillar comprises lobbying and advocacy, which involveshelping organisations to obtainrights. Activities vary from one countryto the next. Has the country signed the Convention? Are the lawsalready in force? Are they being respected? Presenting a bill is noteasy. It is also difficultto point thefinger at a country whose legislationis not being respected. Our advocacy training is therefore extremelyworthwhile.In this context, a good example is theCambodian DisabledPeople's Organisation (CDPO), which is really managing to lobby atnational level, adds Sophie Wyseur. Recently, we started taking

things a step further with a new project called Making it Work. Theidea is to help organisations collect enough information to be ableto lobby effectively. This is what we call food for advocacy. We alsocollect inspiring accounts and illustrative examples of inclusiveeducation and labour market integration for people with disabilitiesin order to show what is possible, she continues.We also encourage people with disabilities to take part in localdecision-making. In this way, organisations in Colombia havesucceeded in pushing municipal councils to add disability-relatedissues to their agenda. Action plans have often ensued and beenpart-funded by Handicap International.

The fact that people with disabilities are able to defend their rightsthemselves can also help effectively change attitudes. But all of this

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is not alwayseasy, especially in regionsbarely emerging from conflict.In Burundi, for example, self-interest often takes precedence overthe public interest.The Burundi people do not feel the need to unite.It is up to us to foster this need, explains Sophie Wyseur. InBurundi, we have therefore requested organisations to submitdisability awareness projects. Quality projects will be funded.Thanksto this initiative, organisations are starting to think about theirmethod of working and to look at how to organise themselves. Thiscomes under the first pillar of our objectives. The second pillar,improving the image of people with disabilities, has also been givenreal impetus. In fact, it is thanks to the funded projects that we areseeing posters in the streets and that role-plays are being enactedin villages.

Our support for associations is a key component of HandicapInternational's work, concludes Sophie Wyseur. Because, whenwe withdraw from a country, organisations must be capable ofcontinuing the advocacywork alone in order to enjoy their rights likeany other citizen.

Two examples

CAMBODIA: SELF-CONFIDENCE AND ACCESS TO THE MARKET

In Cambodia, self-help groups are now managing to assert therights of people with disabilities with local authorities. Theseorganisations are working in an increasingly professional andstructured way, explains Jeroen Stol, Programme Director inCambodia. In 2008, we set up Community for All (CFA), an umbrellaorganisation of all the self-help groups. Thirty-eight-year-old MonSiup is a member of a self-help group from Koch Chas, a village inthe province of Siem Reap. Her experience to date unfortunatelyreveals that raising awareness is absolutely essential. I have beenvisually impaired since birth and I have never been accepted. Somepeople looked down on me. Others insulted me, calling me things

like kwak (an insult meaning blind people). People thought I wasincapable. I still live with my mother. There is little chance that I willever get married.

By joining this organisation, I finally had the opportunity to talk toother people with disabilities. This reallyhelped me regain confidence.Now I manage our organisation. This work gives me energy. I feelcomfortable meeting our community leadersto raise their awareness.I think that the local authorities are finally starting to have an idea ofthe problems that we face.Thanks to thefunds collected, thecoveredmarket will soon be accessible to people with disabilities and we willhave chalked up a victory. Peoplewith disabilitiesclearly must supporteach other. I hope that many self-help groups like this will appearacross the country.

ANGOLA: FROM THE CONSTITUTION TO FOOTBALL STADIUMS

In Angola, Handicap International assists and supports 21 organi-sations for people with disabilities. And they won several victoriesin 2009,explains Julie Nuttens, Programme Director in Angola. Inparticular, they had their say during the national consultations onconstitutional reform. Our conclusions were incorporated in the finalwording of the reform. We are now assured that the fundamental

rights of people with disabilities will be better respected. We are alsoteaching the organisations to make use of current events to obtainrights from the authorities. In this way, they ensured that thestadiums were made accessible to allduring the Africa Football Cup.

Handicap International and the organisations also fully exploitedthe International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Many activitieswere held on 3 December: conferences, photo exhibitions, radiobroadcasts, protest marches, sporting championships, sketches andsongs and poetry shows. Using both fun and formal means, wereminded the local authorities and people with disabilities of theexistence of the international convention that defends their rights.

It is a key component of Handicap Internationals

work, because when we withdraw from a country,

the organisations must be capable of continuing

the advocacy work alone.

T.

DIRVEN-HANDICAPINTERNATIONAL


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Tsunami_five years on

On 26 December 2004, an earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter Scale shook the sea bed in the Bay ofBengal, near the island of Sumatra. An enormous tidal wave created by the quake devastated the Asian coast,destroying some areas more than one kilometre inland. The list of countries hit is long: Bangladesh, India,Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and it goes on. The impact of the tsunami

was felt as far away as the African coast, in Somalia, Tanzania and Kenya. It claimed more than 270,000 livesand left more than one million homeless. 65% of the death toll occurred in the province of Aceh, Indonesia.In the Maldives, one person in three was affected.

This large-scale disaster received massive media attention and

generated an unprecedented surge of generosity. Internationalorganisations gathered resources and mobilised teams to bringrelief to the disaster victims. From the outset, they faced hugechallenges on an unprecedented scale. Matters were furthercomplicated by having to work in unstable areas, such as Sumatraand Sri Lanka, where civil war between the government and theTamil Tigers has been causing disruption for years. For HandicapInternational, there was also the issue of taking into account peoplewith disabilities in the emergency relief effort and especially duringthe reconstruction phase.

Like other non-governmental organisations, Handicap Internationalalso had to deal with public expectations as regards the use ofdonations: everything had to be rebuilt, and straight away. But the

humanitarian organisations had to combine their emergency aidwith a more long-term vision. The task was enormous and hastaken time; it was said that a period of five to ten years would benecessary to erase the traces of the tsunami.

Handicap International very quickly took action in the aftermath of

the disaster. The French section was already working in Sri Lanka,where it had opened a physical rehabilitation centre in Batticaloa, onthe east coast, in June 2004. The purpose of this centre was to meetthe needs of people suffering from disabilities following the civilwar. The physical rehabilitation centre teams therefore mobilised inthe hours that followed the tsunami to respond to the emergency:providing walking aids, basic physical rehabilitation treatment andrespiratory physiotherapy.

A team was also quickly sent to Aceh, on the island of Sumatra,and the most affected region, to provide direct aid: physiotherapytreatment in hospitals and then in camps and village clinics. Theorganisation also supplied material, particularly to equip thephysical rehabilitation and appliance centre at Banda Aceh hospital.

As for the Belgian section of Handicap International, it decided towork in the Maldives. The archipelago was also hit by the waves.But its scattered population - 400,000 people over 200 islands -

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made it difficult to provide aid to the disaster victims. HandicapInternational first worked in partnership with other internationalorganisations to rebuild destroyed houses and ensured theaccessibility of the new residences and public buildings. At thesame time, the organisation signed cooperation agreements withthe government to work on natural disaster preparedness thatincludes people with disabilities. We rapidly expanded our post-emergency work to issues relating to access to services for peoplewith disabilities.

This issue of accessibility, the inclusion of people with disabilitiesand their rights, formed part of all of Handicap International's projectsin the regions hit by the tsunami once the emergency phase wasover. Fitting appliances and rehabilitation is just one aspect ofsupporting people with disabilities. The rehabilitation of peoplewith disabilities also involves their financial independence, theirintegration into society and tangible recognition of their rights,explained Louis Bourgois, former assistant director of the Sri Lankaprogramme.

As such, the organisation developed community-based approaches,either directly or in partnership with existing local organisations, asin the Maldives. From June 2007, still in the Maldives, Handicap

International started to work on a project to increase the capacity ofpeople with disabilities for accessing information in order to improvetheir social inclusion through care structures, school integration,vocational training and social and sports activities. We also stroveto raise public consciousness to generate greater acceptance ofpeople with disabilities.

Handicap International also supported the creation of twoorganisations, the MDA (Maldives Deaf Association) and the ADD

(Association for Disability and Development). These two organisationscarried out a series of awareness-raising projects and, in particular,represented people with disabilities before the Maldivesgovernment. They succeeded in adding disability-related issues tothe governments agenda, so much so that the authorities signedthe Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Lucy Roberts opened and closed the Handicap Internationalprogramme in the Maldives. She can see the changes five years on:People with disabilities in the Maldives were marginalised, did nothave access to any services and there was no legal framework toguarantee their rights. Now it seems that civil society is capable ofensuring the well-being of people with disabilities.

After five years, as planned from the outset, Handicap Internationalwithdrew from the Maldives; an exciting and fruitful cooperationbetween Handicap International and its Maldivian partners came toan end. All those concerned feel that their work has been worthwhile;both the authorities and the public now have greater awareness ofthe subject of disability. But beyond simple awareness-raising,Handicap International truly contributed towards improving thequality of life of people with disabilities by acting at various levelsand in a complementary manner. We worked at the political level

by cooperating with the relevant government departments toestablish a political framework on the one hand, and on the other,working at local level, we demonstrated that it is possible to meetthe needs of people with disabilities, despite the problems causedby the geography of the archipelago. Handicap International alsohelped achieve greater social integration. Together with our partners,we have ensured that the issue of disability is no longer taboo, notonly for the benefit of those left with disabilities following thetsunami, but also for all people with disabilities in the country.

The rehabilitation of people with disabilities also

involves their financial independence, their integration

into society and tangible recognition of their rights.

B.

KORMANN-HANDICAP

INTERNATIONAL


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Road safety_becomes global priority for the first time

In October, thirty-three-year-old Le Thi Kim Huong was knocked off her moped by a bus. In her region (DongNai province, in Vietnam), ambulances sometimes take hours to arrive. Luckily, a team of Handicap Internationalvolunteers were in the area. They gave me first aid, which prevented irreversible lesions. In a few months,I will be able to walk again. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) figures, Huong is one of the 50million people injured every year in road accidents. Worldwide, the road is killing an increasing number ofpeople and causing an increasing number of disabilities.

Given these circumstances, Handicap International was delightedthat, for the first time, road safety was made a priority on theinternational agenda in 2009. NGOs and heads of state andgovernment around the world announced their intention to put anend to the rapid rise in the number of deaths and injuries on theroads. On the WHO's initiative, 50 NGOs met on two occasions tohelp prepare the United Nations Global Ministerial Conference onRoad Safety, which was held in Moscow in November. The President

and members of the Handicap International team attended, withHandicap International being the only NGO to take the floor at theevent. 150 countries asked the United Nations to prepare a commonstrategy for a decade of action for road safety.

Handicap International recognises that there has been someprogress in the field of road safety. But what could be more logical?stresses Vincent Slypen, Operations Director at Handicap InternationalBelgium. The figures are telling. 1.3 million people are currentlykilled on the roads everyyear. If nothing is done, that figure will riseto 2.4million by 2030. Road accidents are currentlythe ninthhighestcause of death in the world; in 2030 they will be the fifth highestcause of death. They will kill more people than AIDS and cancer.Between now and 2015, traffic accidents could even become theleading cause of disability in children aged five years and over.

The problem is most acute in developing countries!

In developed countries, the number of road accident victims issteady. In developing countries, however, this figure is risingdrastically. Industrialised Western countries own more than half of allmotor vehicles in the world. However, according to WHO figures,more than 90% of all road accidents happen in developing countries.The road infrastructure is not generally adapted to the boom inmopeds and, to a lesser extent, cars, explains Vincent Slypen.Vehicles are often nigh-on unroadworthy, taxis carry too manypassengers, wearing crash helmets andseat belts is theexception andrules of the roadand driving licences are practically non-existent.Thereare no pavements, the roads are in very bad condition, speed limitsare not adhered to and there are many that drive under the influence.

The problem in South-East Asia, in particular, is escalating.According to studies by WHO, by 2020 the number of road accidentvictims will have risen 144% compared to 2000. As such, in 2000,road safety became a key component of our activities in threecountries in the region: Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. In thesecountries, we even treat more people with disabilities resultingfrom road accidents than those with disabilities caused by anti-personnel mines.

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Public awareness-raising

Setting up data collection systems

Lobbying for the development

of appropriate legislation

in the field of road safety

Enhancing the capacities

of our institutional partners.

Setting up

an emergency

response system

at the scene of

road accidents

In this region, our expertise is recognised and we sometimesadvise other countries. We are preparing, in particular, a project inBenin. We are recognised worldwide as a key player explainsPhilippe Martinez, Programme Director in Vietnam. In 2009, stafffromour Vietnameseteamwereinvitedto speak at a WHO conferenceto share their experience in the area of first aid,

This expertise comes from our years of experience in anti-personnelmine projects. The strategies deployed are in fact the same: lobbyingactivities, database management, education, awareness-raising andmedical assistance. Handicap International launched its first roadsafety project in Laos in 2000, following a study that revealed thatthe majority of hospitalised patients were road accident victims,explains Luc Delneuville, Programme Director in Laos.

From prevention to medical assistance

In Cambodia, Handicap International has set up a databaseconcerning road accident victims (RCVIS Road Crash and VictimInformation System). The exact number of deaths and injuries wasin fact unknown. It is a major achievement, according to JeroenStol, the Programme Director in Cambodia. Now that we have

accurate data, we can more effectively lobby the authorities andother stakeholders.The ideais to eventually transfer thiscomputerisedsystem to other developing countries.

Road education is a crucial aspect of our road accident campaigns.In Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos we are developing, in cooperationwith the Ministry of Education, a programme targeted at primaryschools. There was no such course before we arrived. For example,we are teaching children howto cross theroad. We also train teachers,explains Jeroen Stol.

The keyto success is oftenthe setting up an initiative that combinesroad education in schools, intense public awareness campaigns andefforts to lobby authorities. Crash helmets are becoming anincreasingly familiar sight in the rural landscape. Thanks to ourcampaigns, half of all motorcyclists in Cambodia now wear a crashhelmet, a figure that has doubled in just six months. And sinceFebruary 2009, all two-wheel drivers now wear helmets in Ho ChiMinh City, a Vietnamese city with several million inhabitants. We haveensured that wearing a crash helmetis nowa legal requirement. Ourcampaigns, however, are not just national. We also implement localactivities involving organisations working in the field. Such anapproach is essential for bringing about a change in attitudes.

Handicap International also holds first aid courses for schools andvolunteers. This initiative has proved very effective in Vietnam.We have set up 25 first aid posts in five districts. Sixteen teams ofmore than 100 volunteers trained by us make it a point of honour toarrive as fast as possible at the scene of road accidents. Becauseambulances can sometimes take several hours to arrive, saysPhilippe Martinez, In 2010, there will be even more first aid postsand more volunteers. We are also distributing brochures aimedat the general public explaining the appropriate action to take atthe scene of a road accident.

We can endorse the success of our multidisciplinary approach,adds Philippe Martinez with triumph. In theVietnamese province ofDong Nai, where the project Safe Roads for Better Life is ever present(with the delivery of materials and ambulances, the setting up ofmedical posts, volunteer training and childrens awareness), thereare already visible results after one year. In the region, the numberof fatal accidents has decreased by 30%. The number of injuries hasdropped by 42.5%. These results have encouraged us to extend our'road safety' projects to other countries. A reconnaissance missionhas already been launched this year in Africa.

H A N D I C A P I N T E R N A T I O N A L SV A R I O U S A C T I V I T I E S

Road safety education in schools

L.

AERTS-HI

L.

AERTS-HI

T.DIRVEN-HI


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TRUNG_VIETNAM.

Trung is 8. He lives in the mountains near Khan

Hoa. At first sight, he looks like an ordinary, very

active little boy. But Trung is small for his age and

has a mental disability. He cannot eat by himself

andcan only pronounce a fewwords. At theage of

5, he underwent a successful operation to correct

a hare lip. Handicap Internationalmakesa special

effort to quickly identify childrenlike Trung so they

can be treated at a much earlier age.

03

PROGRAMMES


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1

AFRICA

Luanda

Huambo

HUAMBO

HUILA

NAMIBE

BENGUELA

Benguela

Lubango

Bibala

A N G O L AI N F I G U R E S

International staff: 6National staff: 61Budget : 1.337.064 Principal donors:

Canadian Auto Workers Union(CAW-Canada),

Canadian InternationalDevelopment Agency (CIDA),

DGCD Programme,

Dutch Ministryof Foreign Affairs (Buza),

European Union (EuropeAid),

Irish Departmentof Foreign Affairs (Irish Aid).

Angola

The CBR project aims to improve the socialand economic integration of people withdisabilities from identified communities.Regular activities are conducted to identifypeople with disabilities, inform them aboutthe aid available to them and refer them ifnecessary to social, health or employmentservices for appropriate care. Additionally,the project teams carry out personalisedfollow-up, making home visits and providingmoral support and advice to people withdisabilities and their families. In parallel,

community-based rehabilitation officers alsostrive to raise the awareness of communitymembers on interacting with people withdisabilities and on disability in general.

The Labour market integration of people withdisabilities project is being conducted inpartnership with two disability organisationsin the province of Huambo. Teams identifythe people with disabilities that will besupported and assist them throughout theirproject by providing training, micro-creditand basic material to start their businessand by identifying employers. These teams

have also raised awareness on the labour

market (private and public businesses,training centres, public employment services,etc.) to the problems encountered bypeople with disabilities

The aim of the project supporting disabilityorganisations is to strengthen organisationsrepresenting people with disabilities so that,in the long run, they can influence decisionsconcerning these people. The 21 organisationssupported by Handicap International achievedtangible results in 2009, one of the mostimportant of which was undoubtedly theinclusion of people with disabilities in the newConstitution of Angola. The organisationsalso made a major effort to give peoplewith disabilities access to the Africa Cup ofNations, the sporting event of 2009. Theorganisations also conducted numerousawareness-raising activities concerningdisability rights.

The community-based rehabilitation activitiesin the province of Benguela will be trans-ferred to our three partners, the Directionprovinciale de l'assistance et de la rinsertionsociale (Provincial department for support

and social reintegration), APADV and theLARDEF, to ensure the continuity of theprojects. This withdrawal phase will beassessed and the lessons learned will beapplied to the second withdrawal phasefrom Huila, Namibe and Huambo. The secondphase of the economic integration projectwill be completed in 2010 and, subject tofunding, a third and final phase will bedeveloped in 2010-2011. Handicap Interna-tional will nevertheless continue to assistits partner organisations so that they cancontinue their social and economic integra-tion projects. Projects to support disability

organisations will be continued in 2010with, in particular, a strengthening seminarbringing together the 21 organisations.

Handicap International started working in Angola in 1995 with the creationof rehabilitation centres and a prosthetic foot production centre. In 2005,the projects in Angola reached their first turning point with the handoverof the centres to the National disability rehabilitation programme under

the supervision of the Angolan Ministry of Health. Another milestone in theprogramme was the 2007 merger of the projects conducted by the Frenchand Belgian sections of Handicap International, as the French section waswithdrawing from the country. In 2009, Handicap International's activitieswere focused around three key areas: community-based rehabilitation(CBR), the integration of people with disabilities into the labour marketand the strengthening of disability organisations.


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02


AFRICA

Burundi

The physical rehabilitation centre supportproject initiated in March 2009 comprisesfour parts: improving, between now and2012, the technical, administrative andfinancial autonomy of 12 partner centres;increasing the number of disabled peoplereceiving support; improving the care pro-

vided; and, lastly, improving the accessibilityof these centres. Other initiatives are underdevelopment, such as the setting up of atraining centre at the Gitega CNAR (CentreNational dAppareillage et de Radaptation;National Orthopaedic and RehabilitationCentre).

In 2009, the Handicap International com-munity-based rehabilitation project teamsselected and supported, as a pilot project,27 families with disabled children so as todevelop an effective integration model.Aside from this pilot project, about 30

disabled children were enrolled in school;and our teams identified some 100 womenwith obstetric fistulae who, as a result, were

then operated on, along with some 30children with cleft lips.

By supporting all of Burundi's disabilityorganisations in their advocacy role, Handi-cap International aims to nurture theircapacity to fend for themselves, conduct

projects and communicate on disabilityrights. These organisations have cometogether to form the network RAPHB(Rseau des associations de personneshandicapes du Burundi; Burundi networkof disability organisations). All disabledpeople in Burundi will benefit from theawareness-raising activities carried out bythe RAPHB and its members.

Each of the three projects has a cross-cutting communication component aimedat disability prevention, greater cooperationbetween the various stakeholders, the

organisation of inter-regional exchangeworkshops and advocacy to change men-talities.

In 2010, we hope to develop a specificproject concerning obstetric fistulae and tocontinue to provide substantial support tothe partner physical rehabilitation centresso as to improve their continuity and there-fore make it possible for us to withdraw oursupport in 2012. We also wish to continue,until 2013 at least, our community-based

rehabilitation and disability organisationsupport. A new maternal and infant healthproject is currently being planned.

B U R U N D II N F I G U R E S

International staff: 6National staff: 27Budget: 1.020.711 Principal donors:

City of Luxembourg,

DGCD Programme,


Luxembourg Ministryof Foreign Affairs,

Wallonie Bruxelles International(Belgium).

Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world with nearly 90% ofthe population living on less than $1 per week. There are an estimated800,000 disabled people in the country and Handicap International hasbeen operating there since 1992. The programme is currently focusedaround four key areas: community-based rehabilitation, institutionalsupport for physical rehabilitation centres, support for disability

organisations and, finally, the cross-cutting area of advocacy.

Bujumbura Gitega

GITEGA

MAKAMBA

RUTANA

RUYIGI

Muyinga

MUYINGA


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3

AFRICA

D E M O C R A T I CR E P U B L I CO F C O N G OI N F I G U R E S

International staff: 16National staff: 116(11 of whom are not directlypaid by HI)Budget: 3.342.930 Principal donors:

Big Lottery Fund,

DGCD - Programme andEmergency,

Dutch Ministryof Foreign Affairs (Buza),

European Union(EuropeAid - ECHO),

French Embassy inDemocratic Republicof Congo,


UNDP,

UNICEF.

officers advise them and help them gainaccess to financial aid. This project will beconcluded by the end of 2010.

Handicap International supported the BonDpart and Kikesa centres to make themreferral centres in the field of inclusiveeducation in Kinshasa. In 2009, this pilotproject was extended to 12 other primaryschools in the capital. Handicap Internationalalso participated in the governmentalworking group to reform the country'seducation system. In December 2009, theDRC Senate approved an amendmentintended to introduce the concept of'inclusive education' in the bill relating tothe organisation and operation of the stateeducation system.

Maternal and infant health is a crucial issuein the Congo, where the risk of developinga disability during birth are huge. Ourproject, based in two health districts inKinshasa, therefore aims to increase theexpertise of staff carrying out pre- and post-natal consultations, provide partner healthcentres with necessary equipment andcollect data on disability risk factors and itswidespread presence.

In Kisangani, Handicap International'sgradual withdrawal continued in 2009, and

should be complete between now and 2011.Handicap International has thus refocusedits mine clearance and clean-up activitiesto develop projects to collect data on minesin the Eastern and Maniema provinces, and

is continuing its local capacity-buildingobjectives.

In 2009, Handicap International's activities inNorth Kivu included a hospital physiotherapyproject in the hospitals in Lubutu, Masisi,Kiroshe and Rutshuru. At the same time, theorganisation continued to provide respiratoryphysiotherapy for severely malnourishedchildren being treated in therapeutic feedingcentres, and physical physiotherapy for theirphysical disabilities. Handicap Internationalalso provided care for children with disabi-lities living in the displaced persons' campsin Goma. Lastly, there is also the projectaimed at ensuring access to humanitarianaid for the most vulnerable people in thedisplaced persons' camps and helping thesepeople to return to their home regions.

At the end of 2010, Handicap Internationalwill withdraw from the community-basedrehabilitation project. Projects in the fieldsof inclusive education and maternal healthin Kinshasa will be stepped up. One of theobjectives will be to capitalise upon thetwo experiences in order to reproducethem. Projects will be continued in Goma.The physiotherapy teams will set up amobile physiotherapy clinic to continuetreating children with disabilities who havereturned home after the displaced persons'camps closed. The teams will also identify

people with disabilities in camps in theareas of Mwezo, Nyanzale and Birambiso,90 km from Goma, to provide them withwalking aids and to ensure that they haveaccess to the camp's infrastructures.

Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a country whose socialindicators are a serious concern: high maternal and infant mortality rates,poverty. Handicap International has been working in the Congo since1995. The organisation's projects are currently concentrated in Kinshasaand surrounding areas, in the region of Kisangani and in North Kivu.

18 | ANNUAL REPORT 2009 | HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL

The Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC) is a country whose social indicatorsare a serious concern: high maternal andinfant mortality rates, poverty. HandicapInternational has been working in the Congosince 1995. The organisation's projects arecurrently concentrated in Kinshasa andsurrounding areas, in the region of Kisanganiand in North Kivu.

In Kinshasa, the community-based rehabili-tation project covers 18 municipalities. Thenetwork of 22 community-based rehabili-tation committees supports 8,000 peoplewith disabilities and their families. Community

Kinshasa

Kisangani

EASTERNPROVINCE

GomaNORTH-KIVU

RWANDA

BURUNDI


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04

19 |

LATIN AMERICA

Colombia

Handicap International has been workingin this country since 1998, when the orga-nisation began by supporting the FundacinREI, an organisation in Cartagena specialisedin the rehabilitation of people with disa-bilities. This project is now complete, butthe orthopaedic workshop set up withHandicap International's assistance nowtakes in beneficiaries of our mine victimsupport project.

In 2009, Handicap International continued itswork in five departments, Antioquia, Bolivar,Sucre, Santander and North Santander, with

three major projects: community-basedrehabilitation, disability organisation supportand action against mines.

The aim of the community-based rehabili-tation project is to help people withdisabilities access basic services and toraise community awareness of disabilityrights in the departments of Antioquia andBolivar.

Handicap International supported tendisability organisations in the departmentsof Antioquia and Bolivar, notably in theirwork to promote the participation andinclusion of people with disabilities in theircommunity. Handicap International's long-term goal is to strengthen the structure ofthe organisations concerned so that theycan act more effectively at local, regionaland national levels.

In Colombia, mine action projects focus onproviding mine and UXO victims with directsupport on the one hand and, on the other,

strengthening stakeholders responsible forcaring for victims. The year 2009 was parti-cularly symbolic for Handicap Internationalin Colombia, as the city of Cartagena hostedthe second Review Conference of theOttawa Treaty in December. This conferencehighlighted the inadequacy of governmentmine victim support programmes and theimportance of strengthening institutionsinvolved in the mine victim care system.

The community-based rehabilitation projectwill enter its final phase in 2010, and should

focus particularly on strengthening dialogueforums in order to promote a society that isaccessible to all and thus work towards aninclusive local development project, as partof the 2011-2013 operational strategy. From2011, the disability organisation supportproject will focus on three disabilityorganisations to develop their regional andnational reach. The mine action projects willbe further enhanced in 2010.

C O L O M B I AI N F I G U R E S


DGCD Programme,


Swiss Agency for Developmentand Cooperation (Cosude).

Colombia is the fourth largest country in South America and, with 46.8million inhabitants, has the second-largest population. Unfortunately, asa result of a conflict between various illegal armed groups andgovernment forces, it is one of the countries most affected by anti-personnel landmines in the world, with 31 out of 32 departments affected.

Medelln

Bucaramenga

Cartagena

Sincelejo

Ccuta


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5

LATIN AMERICA

C U B AI N F I G U R E S

International staff: 2National staff: 2,financed by our partners tosupport Handicap International,plus the project teams, alsofinanced by our local partners.Budget: 1.316.579 Principal donors:

City of Paris,

DGCD - Programme andEmergency,

European Union (ECHO),

The Flemish Ministryof Education (Belgium),

Handicap InternationalLuxembourg,

Luxembourg Ministryof Foreign Affairs.

Cuba

Cuba is the largest country in the Caribbean. It has a population ofapproximately 11 million, 3.26% of whom have disabilities. Physical andmotor disabilities make up the majority. Handicap International has beenworking in Cuba since 1998. Over 12 years, the projects have evolved:

after providing prosthetics production support, a community-basedrehabilitation project was launched in 2001, followed in 2005 by apartnership with the Ministry of Education to improve the inclusion ofchildren with disabilities in schools. These two projects have developedover the years. In 2008, a project to support and strengthen organisationsrepresenting people with disabilities was added to the list of programmesbeing run by Handicap International in Cuba. These projects werecontinued in 2009, with the same objective of promoting a more inclusivesociety by developing the social structure and existing expertise.


The community-based rehabilitation projects,implemented in the provinces of Pinar del Rioand Holguin, were also continued in 2009.Volunteers supervised by specialist teamsoffer rehabilitation exercises, instruct thefamilies of people with disabilities so thatthey can take better care of them and raisethe communitys awareness so that it canbetter integrate people with disabilities.Community-based rehabilitation officers alsosupport labour market integration projects.

Initiatives to improve the school inclusion

model are also being continued in ruralareas after a downturn in 2008 due to thedamage caused by the two hurricanes thatdevastated the island. Handicap Interna-tional has equipped mainstream schoolsunder the project to provide children withdisabilities with the same opportunities asothers. The organisation has also helpedprepare teachers so that they can adapttheir teaching to each specific disability andhas raised awareness within the educationcommunity as a whole.

Organisations representing people with

disabilities are still being supported byHandicap International, which worked, inparticular, to enhance their managementcapabilities and to train their staff.

In addition to continuing its community-based rehabilitation and inclusive educationactivities and its work to support disabledpeoples organisations, Handicap Internationalwill focus particularly on the issue of mentaldisability in Cuba. A national campaign toraise public awareness on the issue ofsocial inclusion of people with disabilitieswas launched in 2009 and will continuewell into 2010.

Havana

PINAR DEL RIO

GRANMA

HOLGUIN


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06


ASIA

Cambodia

In the field of rehabilitation, HandicapInternational is continuing to support thephysical rehabilitation centres in Takeo andSiem Reap. In 2009, we prepared to transferthese centres to the national authorities.Our objective is to ensure that the twocentres can operate without us by 2012.

Road safety is still one of our priorities.Thanks to our awareness-raising campaigns,half of all motorcyclists now wear helmets

a figure that has doubled compared tolast year. Handicap International alsocollects and disseminates information onroad accidents through the RCVIS project,the management of which will be trans-ferred to the national authorities in 2010.

Still in the field of disability prevention, weare continuing our Happy Child project,which was launched in 2008. HandicapInternational trains medical centre staff and

midwives and teaches them how to takeearly action in order to prevent and limitdisabilities in young children.

In addition to all that, the organisation hasmaintained its mine action efforts. No lessthan 45.3% of the population lives in a

region at risk. The good news is that thenumber of victims is decreasing every year.Figures reveal, however, that unexplodedordnance causes more accidents than anti-personnel mines, and that we must reviewour priorities in this area. The mine accidentdata collection project was transferred tothe Cambodian Red Cross in 2009.

In Cambodia, people with disabilities arestigmatised and excluded. HandicapInternational works to teach them to asserttheir rights. At national level, we aresupporting the CDPO (Cambodian DisabledPeople Organisation). At local level, we

combine community-based rehabilitation(capable of improving integration withincommunities) with awareness-raising activi-ties. We are also encouraging the creationof self-help groups. In 2009, the projectSports for all will come to an end.

In the future, we want to develop ourprevention projects in the areas of roadsafety and maternal and infant health andour integration projects. Several challengeslie ahead for the period 2010 to 2012. Tostart with, we will be transferring our twophysical rehabilitation centres to ourinstitutional partner. Then we will belaunching three new projects in the fieldsof unexploded ordnance and naturaldisasters and their impact on people withdisabilities (evacuation, reintegration, etc.)and, lastly, there will be a project focusedmore on sensory disability, entitled discourset langage (speech and language).

C A M B O D I AI N F I G U R E S

International staff: 13National staff: 140(dont 36 personnesen situation de handicap)Budget: 1.833.830 Principal donors:

Australian Agency forInternational Development(Ausaid),

Cambodian Ministry of SocialAffairs (MOSVY),

Canton of Basel (Switzerland),

DGCD Programme,


Global Road Safety Partnership(GRSP),

Half Marathon Committee,


Ministry of Foreign Affairsof Belgium,

Ministry for Foreign Affairsof Finland (FINNIDA),

Olympus KeyMed,

Spanish Agency forDevelopement InternationalCooperation (AECID).

Handicap International has been working inCambodia for nearly 30 years. The organisationmanages physical rehabilitation centres andruns projects in the areas of anti personnelmines, road safety and maternal and infanthealth. Social inclusion and the defence ofrights are also areas of focus.

Phnom Penh

Battambang

Takeo

Siem Reap

Banteay Meanchey Preah Vihear


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7

ASIA

China

To this end, Handicap International helpedorganise a national conference in the southof the country, lobbying for better access toservices required by people with disabilities(only a third of whom have access toappropriate services) and for better socialsecurity; only 20% of people needing

mobility aids (such as wheelchairs) havethe means to get them.

We are supporting rehabilitation centres inthree regions. In Sichuan, we still have a lotof work to do to support the victims of theearthquake that hit the province in 2008. Apost-emergency project is underway in themost affected areas.

Handicap International is also seeking topromote access to education for people withdisabilities: inclusive education (wherebychildren with disabilities are educated inmainstream schools), adapted learning inspecialised schools and informal educationwithin the community. We are also workingto improve access to vocational trainingand are investing in the working futures ofpeople with disabilities through micro-credits.

Handicap International is also working withpeople with disabilities to enable them to

fully participate in the lives of theircommunities and is setting up self-helpgroups to encourage these people to takepart in the decision-making process withintheir communities. Handicap Internationalsupports disabled people's organisationsby offering them training, particularly inmanagement.

In 2009, Handicap International also imple-mented disability prevention and earlyrehabilitation projects aimed at youngchildren. Pregnant women were also madeaware of disability prevention.

In 2010, Handicap International will publisha report describing the expertise acquired inthe country and presenting the organisationsfindings and recommendations. On the basisof this report, Handicap International willlaunch a new nationwide project in coope-ration with the China Disabled PersonsFederation (CDPF). In addition to its national-level advocacy efforts, the organisation willcontinue to work at local level to promoterehabilitation, education and job creation.Handicap International also intends to carry

out further awareness-raising in China ofthe campaigns to ban landmines and clusterbombs.

Handicap International has now been working in China for 12 years,conducting projects in the fields of prevention, rehabilitation andinclusion. The emergency relief work that was set up following theearthquake in 2008 led to a long-term project. Now Handicap

International works in four provinces/regions and operates at tendifferent sites. Greater focus must especially be placed on rural areas,where 75% of people with disabilities live.

Pkin

Shigatse

TIBET

ChamdoSICHUAN

NanningGUANGXI

Lhassa

ANNUAL REPORT 2009 | HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL

C H I N AI N F I G U R E S

International staff: 9National staff: 58Budget: 1.338.180 Principal institutional donors:

Brussels-Capital Region,

Canadian Embassy in China(Canada Fund),

Chane du Bonheur,

Department for InternationalDevelopment

of United Kingdom (DFID),

DGCD Programmes,


Gertrud Hirzel Foundation,

Handicap InternationalLuxembourg,

Luce Grivat Foundation,


Partnerships for CommunityDevelopment,

Rotary club Hong Kong North,Shanghai,

Sanofi Aventis.


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08


ASIA

Maldives

In 2009, the cooperation between HandicapInternational and its Maldivian partnerstherefore came to an end. All thoseconcerned feel their work has beenworthwhile; both the authorities and thepublic now have greater awareness of theissue of disability. Handicap Internationalalso helped achieve greater social inte-gration.

In 2005, we began working to raise thegovernment's awareness, encouraging it toratify the Convention on the Rights ofPersons with Disabilities. These efforts paidoff; in March, the Maldivian parliamentratified the convention. Not only that, butthe government also included the issue ofpeople with disabilities in its five-yeardevelopment plan.

In 2007, the organisation also startedworking in the field of social integration

and, as such, conducted educational, socialand sports activities, gave sign language

courses through the Maldives Deaf Asso-ciation (MDA), a local organisation, andensured access to information. We alsostrengthened specialist centres that nowoperate throughout the Maldives.

Community-level rehabilitation projectswere conducted by strengthening a localorganisation called Care Society, whichworks, among other things, in developmentcentres for children with disabilities andwithin community networks on the islandsof Thinadoo and Hithadoo.

Handicap International also encouragedpeople with disabilities to join together inorder to better defend their rights. In 2008,two organisations came into being: the MDAand the Association for Disability andDevelopment (ADD). In 2009, the MDAconvinced the national television channel toschedule a sign language translation of the

daily news review and the President of theMaldives officially recognised sign language.

In cooperation with these organisations,Handicap International worked towardsraising public awareness on the problemsencountered by people with disabilities. Wealso launched a news report containingaccounts by people with disabilities thatgave a positive message, and produced andbroadcast films and television commercials.

We conducted a study for the MaldivesMinistry of Health and Family in order toestimate the number of children and adultswith deficiencies and in need of specialcare. This information helped us toprecisely determine the skills that staffneeded to develop. As for the political

leaders, they are better informed about theneeds that require their urgent attention.

Handicap International had been working in the Maldives since thetsunami of December 2004. The technical assistance initially providedby the Red Cross has evolved, giving way to a major programme that hashelped promote disability rights at both national and local level. In 2009,we conducted research on disabilities and ensured that the partnerorganisations and local authorities could take over following HandicapInternational's withdrawal at the end of November.

Mal

Hithadoo

Thinadoo

M A L D I V E SI N F I G U R E S

International staff: 4National staff: 3Budget: 447.585 Support to Tsunami projectsimplemented by HandicapInternational France inSri Lanka and Indonesia:590.000

Principal donors:

Consortium 1212


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ASIA

D E M O C R A T I CP E O P L E SR E P U B L I CO F K O R E AI N F I G U R E S

International staff: 3National staff: 8 (providedby the KFPD and the KoreanMinistry of Foreign Affairs)Budget: 886.941 Principal donors:

British Embassy in DPR Korea,

DGCD - Programme,Dutch Embassy inDPR Korea,


Swedish InternationalDevelopment CooperationAgency (SIDA).

Democratic PeoplesRepublic of Korea

Handicap International began operating in the DPR Korea in 1998, at therequest of the Korean Federation for the Protection of Persons withDisabilities (KFPD). The projects implemented include, in particular, theorthopaedic workshop support project in Hamhung. Since 2004, theKFPD and Handicap International have also cooperated in the field ofsensory disability. After more than ten years working alongside the KFPD,

Handicap International's role has been reduced to providing institutionalsupport, with the organisation gradually withdrawing from the directimplementation of projects. In 2005, with humanitarian projects nowcoming under the European Union Programme Support (EUPS) system,the DPR Korean government announced that the country no longerneeded international aid. Handicap International was able to continue itsactivities through Unit 7, a structure under the supervision of the EUPS.


and orthopaedic hospital, the Sijung Lake

physical rehabilitation centre, the Dockchoncoal mine hospital and the Tongrim sana-torium for the elderly and disabled. Theassistance provided varied according toneed: refurbishing premises, training carestaff (physiotherapists and orthopaedictechnicians), supplying equipment andconsumables, etc.

Handicap International is also working withits partners to help schools for deaf andblind children, notably through a pilotproject in Wonsan, with the setting up of avocational training section. Seminars areregularly held there, bringing together theheads of similar schools from across theDPR Korea.

As the Korean Federation for the Protection

of Persons with Disabilities hopes todevelop its expertise in project managementand fundraising, the partnership betweenHandicap International and the KFPDshould continue until 2015. In the field ofphysical rehabilitation, Handicap Internationalwill, in the future, focus on training stafffrom the centres. Between now and the endof 2010, the organisation will end its directsupport of the Hamhung orthopaedic centre.Handicap International should also developnew projects in the years to come, notablyin the early detection of disability.

In 2009, Handicap International's activities

included several areas: supporting the KFPD,improving physical rehabilitation servicesand adapted education.

To enable the KFPD to create an effectiveadvocacy network and to provide qualityservices to people with disabilities, HandicapInternational contributed towards improvingthe federation's structure, helping it, inparticular, to open a representative office inPeking. Still in close cooperation with itspartner, Handicap International held nume-rous training courses and seminars.

In the field of physical rehabilitation,Handicap International supported severalstructures: the Hamhung orthopaedic centre

Pyong Yang

Hamhung

Tongrim

Dockchon

Wonsan

9


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1

25 |

ASIALao Peoples Democratic Republic

The road accident prevention project is nowentering its third phase. In 2009, Handicap

International conducted a study to incor-porate the themes of mobility andaccessibility for disabled people into theissue of road safety.

The community-based rehabilitation projectis entering its final phase. 2010 will see thebeginning of the transition process to handthis project over to our local partners.

Handicap International also works with theLDPA (Association Lao pour les personneshandicapes - Laos disability organisation)to create a more inclusive society. HandicapInternational has developed several disability-rights training modules for the LDPA, whichhas also conducted a media campaign toraise public awareness on the potential ofpeople with disabilities.

Handicap International is also working withthe LDPA to promote the employment ofdisabled people. During the first half of

2009, 50 possible employers were contactedto raise their awareness on the potential of

disabled people. An employment agencywas also created.

In 2009, Handicap International continuedits activities to fight unexploded ordnance(UXO) in the districts of Nong, Xepon andVillabuly. UXO awareness officers now havea new tool: a film containing the personalaccounts of children who have survived anaccident caused by a cluster bomb or othertypes of UXOs. A home gardening projectwas also launched among 60 families toimprove their food security and therebyreduce their dependence on the dangerousactivity of collecting metal (particularly thatfrom UXOs).

Typhoon Ketsana also hit Laos in October2009. The districts of Nong and Xepon wereamong the areas affected. Taking the garde-ning project as a basis, the organisationprovided support to some 30 families withdisabled family members.

Laos is the country most affected by cluster munitions. Moreover, inNovember 2010, it will host the first conference of states party to theConvention on Cluster Munitions. Handicap International carried out itsfirst initiatives in the country in 1996-1997. The organisation is now

implementing a major programme to fight cluster munitions in theprovince of Savannakhet along with initiatives for community-basedrehabilitation, road accident prevention and disability organisationsupport, as well as a project to improve employment among the peoplewith disability.

Vientiane

Savannakhet

Xepon

L A OP E O P L E SD E M O C R A T I CR E P U B L I CI N F I G U R E S

International staff: 6National staff: 104Budget: 996.192 Principal donors:

Australian Agency forInternational Development(Ausaid),

DGCD Programme,


UNICEF,United States Agency forInternational Development(USAID).

The majority of the projects launched in2009 will be continued in 2010. A compo-nent of the community-based rehabilitationproject aimed at disabled children willbecome a project in its own right. Theproject to reduce the threat of UXOs shouldcontinue beyond 2013, along with thematernal health and disability employmentprojects and the project to support theLDPA.


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ASIA

V I E T N A MI N F I G U R E S


Amicale des Francophonesdu Vietnam (AFV),

Anova,

Belgian Development Agency(CTB),

Belgian National Lottery,

Business British Groupin Vietnam,

Children for a Better World,

DGCD - Programme,

Enfants du Monde Droits del'Homme (EMDH),

European Union (EuropeAid,)


Martin Iversen,

Province of Limburg (Belgium),

Vlaamse Vereniging voorObstetrie en Gynaecologie(VVOG).

Vietnam

Handicap International has been operating in Vietnam since 1991. Theorganisation is currently implementing prevention and rehabilitationprojects dealing with disabilities caused by accidents, congenitaldeformities and disabling illnesses and, for each project, is striving to

work with Vietnamese partners to guarantee the projects' continuity andtheir appropriateness to the local context.

In September 2009, Typhoon Ketsana hitthe centre of Vietnam. The Da Nangrehabilitation centre, a former HandicapInternational partner, was severely damaged.Handicap International helped renovate thebuilding and also supported patients withspinal cord lesions, providing them withmaterial aid. Handicap International alsoensured that the accessibility of their homes

was improved during reconstruction.

In 2010, current projects will be continuedwith either a capitalisation phase, followedby the handover of the projects to ourinstitutional partners, or a new developmentphase. As such, the Hanoi paraplegia andquadriplegia centre project will be extendedfrom 2010, before being fully transferred toour partners at the end of 2012. TheWelcome to Life and Congenital Differencesprojects will see new developments from2011, with a view to being handed over tothe Vietnamese Ministry of Health at the

end of 2013. After being extended to Ho ChiMinh City, the road safety project will alsocome to a close at the end of 2013.

In the provinces of Khanh Hoa, Da Nangand Phu Yen, people with spinal cordlesions continued to benefit from the equityfund set up by Handicap International withthe provincial hospitals. It enables patientswith limited financial means to stay inhospital during the time needed for theirtreatment.

In the field of maternal and infant health,the Welcome to Life and Congenital Diffe-rences projects continued their activities.The Welcome to Life project aims to improvechild health in the province of Khanh Hoa.In 2009, Handicap International and itspartners trained healthcare staff in theprevention and early detection of disabilityand in the treatment of children withdisabilities. The Congenital Differencesproject, in the province of Hue, also madeit possible to train doctors, nurses andhealth officers working at provincial andlocal level.

Handicap International also continued toimplement its road safety project, Safe Roadsfor Better Life.

Since 2007, Handicap International hasbeen working with Bach Mai Hospital inHanoi to improve the care of people withspinal cord lesions. The organisationequipped a referral health unit for personswith paraplegia and quadriplegia andtrained care staff with the ultimate aim ofextending the project to the provincesthrough satellite units.

11

Ho Chi Minh

Hano

HuDa Nang

Nha Trang


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MIDDLE EAST

Iraqi Kurdistan

We now support the Kurdistan Organisationfor Rehabilitation of the Disabled (KORD),a local organisation that is following upour activities. In 2005, when HandicapInternational had been working in theregion for 14 years, we decided to transferour activities to a local NGO. We have

therefore already been providing KORDwith remote support for some years. Thissupport and monitoring is provided incooperation with Handicap InternationalLuxembourg.

What form does this support take? HandicapInternational assists KORD in balancing itsfinances and helps it develop its strategicplan and improve its management capabi-lities. Two short assignments were carriedout to this end.

In 2009, KORD's activities were generally

the same as in previous years. The NGOprovides prosthetic and orthotic appliances,

seeks and creates jobs for mine victims sothat they can provide for their families andraises awareness on the issue of disability.The Iraqi organisation is also continuing tolobby the government. It also offers trainingcourses to organisations for people withdisabilities and encourages them to form

networks.

The local organisation KORD is capable oflobbying at national level. It is appropriatethat it is now able to operate autonomously.The situation in Iraq has been very unstablesince 2003, at which time Handicap Interna-tional started working toward setting up alocal organisation so that people needinghelp would not be dependent on aninternational NGO.

Over the course of the last few years, KORDhas accumulated real expertise. The organi-

sation has a sound and solid structure. Inthe years to come, Handicap International

will continue to support the NGO andenhance its capacities in various fields suchas physical rehabilitation, social andeconomic integration and supportingorganisations for people with disabilities.

I R A Q I K U R D I S T A NI N F I G U R E S

Kurdistan Organisation forRehabilitation of the Disabled(KORD) staff: 49Budget:managed in partnership withHandicap International: 301.309managed by the partner:$323.756 (about 231.270)

Principal donors managedin partnership with HandicapInternational:

Dutch Ministry ofForeign Affairs,

Luxembourg Ministry ofForeign Affairs.

Principal donors managed bythe partner:

General Directoratefor Mine Action (GDMA),

UNDP,

WHO.

Handicap International began its activities in Iraqi Kurdistan in 1991, when itopened a rehabilitation centre in Suleymaniyah. Seven years later, the organisationopened a second centre in the city of Halabja where, in 1998, 5,000 Kurdish peoplewere killed and 12,000 injured in a chemical attack by Saddam Hussein's regime.The centre is still treating victims of the tragedy to this day. Since 2001, we have

also opened three satellite units, all located in regions that are heavily litteredwith anti personnel mines and other unexploded ordnance.

12

Suleymanyah Halabajah


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13

EUROPE

Belgium

LobbyingFrom Brussels, Handicap International not

only lobbies for a global ban on anti-personnel mines and cluster bombs, butalso for greater support for the victims ofthese weapons. In September 2009, theorganisation also distributed the Voicesfrom the Ground report worldwide. It is thefirst ever survey report on victim support.The study shows that more than two-thirdsof survivors think that their needs are nottaken into consideration in support plans.In December 2009, Handicap Internationalplayed a crucial role at the historic summitin Cartagena, Colombia, which made itpossible, on the basis of the Voices from

the Ground report, to assess the work stillto be done to improve the considerationgiven to mine victims.

Educational projectsHandicap International produced a series of

teaching tools to raise awareness amongchildren and young people. These educa-tional projects ranged from the organisationof fun workshops in schools to presen-tations during university lectures. In 2009,we launched www.handigosolidaires.com,a website with games aimed at raisingchildren's awareness of the circumstancesin which people with disabilities live indeveloping countries. Other tools includedthe teaching guide to the film La petitevendeuse de soleil (The Little Girl WhoSold the Sun) by Djibril Diop Mambety andthe manual Le handicap et la solidarit

internationale (Disability and InternationalSolidarity).

Bricoleur du curEvery year the Bricoleur du curcompetition rewards inventors who, througha variety of tips and innovative ideas,improve the daily lives of people living withdisabilities. In 2009, for example, Eugnedesigned a mobile step that allows his wife,who finds it hard to get around, to climbthe stairs unaided. In addition to giving

awards for these clever ideas, we alsoensure that they are disseminated, so thatthey can facilitate the lives of many others.

SolidanzaIn December, around the time of the Inter-national Day for People with Disabilities, weheld the Solidanza festival at the BrusselsStock Exchange. It was a real dancingweekend. The young and the old, the ableand the less able, professional dancers andamateurs, all ventured onto the dance floorto raise funds for Handicap International.

Following the initiatives success, anotherSolidanza festival is planned for 2010.

Fatal FootprintAt the end of 2008, Brussels hosted FatalFootprint, an exhibition displaying theconsequences of anti-personnel mines andcluster bombs on people in Cambodia,Colombia, Ethiopia and Laos. In 2009, theexhibition visited Mons, Bruges, Turnhout,Sint-Niklaas, Verviers, Namur and Halle. Itwas then taken abroad to Canada, Colombia,

Switzerland and China.

ANNUAL REPORT 2009 | HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL

B E L G I U MI N F I G U R E S

Staff : 18Budget: 878.369 Principal donors:

Australian Agency for InternationalDevelopment (Ausaid),

Austrian Development Agency (ADA),

City of Brussels,

DGCD Programme,

Diana Princess of Wales Memorial

Foundation,Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Buza),


ICBL,

Irish Department of Foreign Affairs(Irish Aid),

Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium(Conflict Prevention),

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway,

Wallonie Bruxelles International(Belgium).


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ROGER_BELGIUM.

Roger Van Criekinge is Wout's grandfather. Wout

suffers from a motor disorder that forces him to

usea special chair. This chairis practical but very

low and does not allowWout to sitdown in class

at the same table as his school mates. By

manufacturing a mobile structure adapted to

accommodate Wout's seat, Roger has done his

grandson a great favour, an achievement that

earned him the design award at the 2009

Bricoleur du Coeur competition.

04

FINANCIAL REPORT

8/6/2019

Documents

Annual Rapport Handicap International