This paper is intended to
present the future priority needs of the disability and rehabilitation sector in
order to get the focus of donors and government for better effective
implementation of the Strategy on Poverty Reduction.
Cambodia has been at the
forefront of signing and recognising most of the international instruments
relating to the protection of rights and full participation of people with
disabilities. These include World Program of Action Concerning Disabled Persons,
UN Standard Rules on Equalisation of Opportunity for People with Disabilities,
UNESCAP Asian and Pacific Decade of the Disabled Persons 1993-2002, and Biwako
Millennium Frame for Action towards Inclusion of People with disabilities in the
Asian and Pacific Region 2003-2012.
In order to tackle social
development issues, top priority should be given to key areas such as poverty
reduction together with pro-poor, sustainable growth and good governance.
Poverty reduction and improving the quality of life of all people in Asia and
the Pacific has become the overarching objective of the World Bank and the Asian
Development Bank (ADB). People with disabilities are among the poorest of the
poor in Cambodia, especially women and children with disabilities. They are
among the most vulnerable deserving special attention because their standard of
living falls far below the poverty line and their capacity for participating in
economic activities can be limited by disability.
Investment in programs
dealing with disability and rehabilitation has largely come from financial and
technical support from outside sources. As Cambodia moves further into the
development phase there will be a need for increasing co-ordination, especially
between government, local and international non-government organisations, UN
organisations, and bilateral and multilateral donors to ensure that investment
continues.
The tendency of decreasing
funds from donors to help maintain basic services will put an immense strain on
the government with its limited resources.
In 2001 there were16 physical
rehabilitation centres in Cambodia. However, by 2003 only 12 remain in operation
due to the lack of funding. Some donors have changed their priority and others
would like to see more contribution, support and ownership from the government.
The dilemma this presents is whether an increase in financial support by the
government would help in getting more support from donors. A group of NGOs
providing physical rehabilitation services has been trying to bring attention to
the serious question of the future of services by asking the government to
develop a long term plan, sharing financial resources, and review the policy of
free of charge services. The concern and commitment are acknowledged but real
action is still not fully guaranteed.
At the present time,
disability data is not reliable. Official figures from government show that 2
-2.5% of the total population have disabilities. This is very low compared to
data from the developed countries which show levels of 10 to 20% or more.
Unfortunately there is no common and official definition of disability. Although
a number of surveys have been conducted by various agencies and organisations it
is acknowledged that socio-economic and demographic data related to disability
is far from being consistent and accurate. In addition, the categorisation of
disabilities varies from one to another, impeding any comparison, verification,
analysis and interpretation of the information, which is very often fragmented
and generated from diverse sources. The situation of people with disabilities is
not holistically addressed due to lack of centralised, structured and accessible
information related to the number of people with disabilities and services
provided. This is the main obstacle to any efficient and rational
decision-making, strategic planning, monitoring, and evaluation of the
intervention to address the situation as well as resource allocation and
services.
Cambodian
people with disabilities have little to gain from the sameness of treatment
concept as long as a range of environmental barriers exist to prevent their
social integration. Frustrated with the social welfare approach, Cambodian
people with disabilities have begun claiming rights, instead of privilege, to
full participation and equality with others in society.
Cambodia
does not have separate disability laws at the present, but disability issues
have been addressed in some existing Cambodian Laws and Regulations. A Draft
Cambodian Disability Law is being developed. The draft law with 70 articles aims
to promote integration of people with disabilities into mainstream development
programs/activities to ensure the protection and promotion of the rights of all
people with disabilities and prohibition of abuse and neglect of these people
with disabilities and discrimination against them.
The
final draft law (both in Khmer and English) initiated by Cambodian Disabled
People’s Organisation (CDPO) has been reviewed and revised by the Legislation
Working Group based on inputs and comments from a Cambodian legal experts and
senior staff of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour, Vocational Training and
Youth Rehabilitation. A workshop was organised to get further inputs and views
from stakeholders and people with disabilities on the contents of the draft law
at the beginning of 2002. MoSALVY established a team of experts to get the
necessary documents ready for official submission to the Council of the
Ministries. The disability law will help Cambodia to gain reputation in the
international arena, assist the government in implementation of policy
guidelines as well as provide benefits and opportunities to people with
disabilities to participate in the national development to promote wellbeing for
themselves, their families, communities, and society.
The
Prime Minister and policy makers have always revealed strong support to get the
draft law adapted and implemented. Due to the National Assembly Election in 2003
the draft law has been delayed and is expected to be submitted for debate by
2004. People with disabilities are awaiting the adoption of the law and its
implementation in the next mandate of the government.
The Disability and
Rehabilitation Sector would like to raise the following recommendations to:
·
Multi-sectoral collaboration and co-operation efforts are needed to
ensure the full integration of people with disabilities. A national co-ordinating
body should be further promoted and supported by governments and donors. This
will require addressing the lack of access to education, skills training, land,
and credit that seems to be acute within communities. Therefore, mainstreaming
of people with disabilities into the existing programmes and services means that
their natural place as an integral part of society is recognised.
·
Include the needs of people with disabilities in the implementation of
the National Poverty Reduction Strategy;
·
Develop a long term plan on the disability sector, especially on physical
rehabilitation, to prepare appropriate hand over for sustainability of services;
·
Allocate human and financial resources for the sector and ensure the
actual disbursement of money;
·
Take action towards the fulfilment of the Biwako Millennium Framework
targets in order to promote participation of people with disabilities in
mainstream society and in the development process;
·
Work closely with existing national coordinating body (Disability Action
Council) and Ministry of Planning/National Institute of Statistics for
disability data collection, analysis and dissemination in close consultation
with other government ministries and agencies, institutions, disability
organisations, and other stakeholders;
·
Insist that the needs of people with disabilities are considered as an
integral part of all-planning programmes and projects and not viewed as a
separate issue;
·
Ensure that policies relating to disability are actually implemented and
check where new policies should be formulated; and
·
Promote and accelerate the passage of the Cambodian Disability Law as
part of the efforts to strengthen and protect the rights and interests of people
with disabilities and to guarantee their full and equal participation in
activities of the community as other citizens.
·
Check policies on disability to ensure that policies relating to
disability are actually implemented. Where no policies exist new ones should be
formulated;
·
Devote and commit for further additional and longer term funding to this
sector so that comprehensive planning for the development and implementation of
services can be created and implemented by government and NGOs in collaboration
and co-operation;
·
Insist that the needs of people with disabilities are considered as an
integral part of all-planning programmes and projects and not viewed as a
separate issue;
·
Provide impetus to the fulfilment of the Biwako Millennium Framework
targets, especially on disability data collection and use; and
·
Encourage and assist in adoption and dissemination of the Cambodian
Disability Law.
·
Insist that the needs of people with disabilities are considered as an
integral part of all-planning programmes and projects and not viewed as a
separate issue;
·
Work closely with existing national coordinating body (Disability Action
Council) and Ministry of Planning/National Institute of Statistics assisting in
disability administrative records and disability data collection;
·
Commit and devote time and resources for communication and sharing of
information to the National coordinating body to fulfil the Biwako Millennium
Framework targets in order to avoid overlapping and waist of time and resources;
and
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For more information and the issues raised in this paper, please contact Disability Action Council, Tel: 023 218 797, Email: dac@dac.org.kh