Support our work and help us challenge discrimination against people with disabilities
Poverty will never be beaten until disabled people have equal rights
All our projects are ultimately focused on equality for people with disabilities. In 2006 the UN adopted a new convention to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. This is a major step forward; however the majority of disabled people in the developing world continue to live in poverty, excluded from the mainstream. We are working hard to advocate for equal rights:
- We work from grass roots to government level: with individuals, parents, children, teachers, health care providers, employers, government ministers and village chiefs, to promote equal rights for persons with disabilities.
- Through our CBR projects we do practical things to improve access for disabled people, such as installing ramps and handrails in schools.
- We mentor and build the capacity and effectiveness of local representative groups such as the Cambodian Disabled People’s Organisation, so they can develop as effective representatives for the people they serve.
- We provide disability rights training for organisations working in poverty reduction. Many mainstream poverty reduction programmes exclude disabled people because they believe they are better served by separate programmes. This attitude reinforces the marginalisation of disabled people.
- We lobby the governments in the countries where we work to ensure that disability issues are included in development plans and to promote ratification of the UN convention. In Timor Leste, for example, our discussions led to people with disabilities being written into the fledgling government's poverty reduction strategy.
- We assist our clients to take part in events such as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Read more about the UN convention
Cambodia Trust staff at the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Cambodia
