Handicap International experience in Afghanistan - CBM

ForewordFor nearly twenty five years Handicap International has been involved in support to persons with disabilities worldwide, promotingtheir rights and welfare, whatever the situation they are confronted by. With regards to Afghanistan, our organisation started itsactivities of rehabilitation inside the refugee camps established in Baluchistan in 1985, by producing wheel chairs, prosthesis andorthotic devices, and training Afghan refugees in physiotherapy in Quetta, Pakistan. Following this, a project was launched andcontinued for several years on Afghan territory, in the town of Herat. It was sadly suspended following the death of Vincent Gernigon,a young and dedicated physiotherapist, in a military clash between resistance and government forces in 1989. I would like to dedicatethis work to him, his family and friends.In 2001, Handicap International resumed its activities in Afghanistan by setting up offices and projects in different provinces: Kabul,Herat, Kandahar and Ghazni. Several activities have been developed since then, ranging from: physical rehabilitation services, outreachprogrammes, community based rehabilitation, awareness and sensitisation activities and training of physiotherapists, to mine riskeducation projects and setting up small Explosive Ordnance Demolition teams. With the NDSA, Handicap International has takena new step towards improving understanding of all stakeholders and bridging the gap of knowledge about the situation of personswith disability in Afghanistan. The NDSA provides insights into the social, cultural and political mechanisms that make persons withdisability and their families one of the most vulnerable groups in the country.The NDSA was launched in 2004 to provide stakeholders with the necessary knowledge about persons with disability in order toenhance the effectiveness of their action. The overall aim was to design and define disability programmes in Afghanistan through abetter identification of the needs as expressed by the people themselves.It has been a challenging decision to launch a programme that required sending teams of surveyors to a country where securityremains a constant concern.When the survey started, the Government of Afghanistan was in the process of setting the basis for rebuilding public services that hadcollapsed. The main challenges in order to meet the population’s essential needs, were to restore access to healthcare, water supplyand sanitation, housing, education and employment. However, despite the general belief that “everything needed to be done upfront”,our experience in the field of disability made us aware of the necessity to prioritise actions in order to define a sustainable strategyfor persons with disability, based on relevant knowledge and understanding of a complex situation. Our aim was to ensure that therequirements of all persons with disabilities would be taken into consideration and incorporated into the proposed set of actions.I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr Frederic Tissot, who supported the project right from the very beginning and understoodthe importance of such an endeavour. He has met with an unfortunate accident in Haiti, after leaving Afghanistan and is currently inFrance. The entire team has appreciated his contribution to the NDSA.I hope that the present document will prove to be a relevant and inspiring source of information for policy and decision makers, withinthe government, the donor community as well as the humanitarian and development actors: all those who are committed to helppersons with disability gain self respect and find a rightful place in the Afghan society.Jean-Baptiste RichardierExecutive Director , Handicap International, Lyon - Francexii National Disability Survey in Afghanistan 2005