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APCD Mission

Mission to Central Asia
(Preparation for CBSHOD in Kyrgyzstan)

Discussion with Mr. Baktybek Jekshenov, Deputy
Minister, Ministry of Labor and Social Development APCD dispatched a mission team to Kyrgyzstan from 31 October to 5 November 2007.

The Office of the Prime Minister and Mr. Baktybek Jekshenov, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Labor and Social Development agreed to collaborate with APCD to organize CBSHOD in Bishkek in September 2008. JICA-Kyrgyzstan will be a co-organizer for CBSHOD and conduct follow up activities for APCD.

The mission team organized a 1 day Workshop in Bishkek with tentative stakeholders of CBSHOD, and another 2-day Workshop in Issyk-Kul with Disabled Peoples' Organizations (DPOs) and concerned Government Agencies. Nine self-help groups and self-help organizations (SHGs/ SHOs), who attended the Workshop agreed to collaborate and participate in the CBSHOD in September 2008 which identified the main SHGs/SHOs. They are willing to collaborate in preparation for the CBSHOD in Kyrgyzstan, along with the Ministry of Labor and Social Development. The Workshop focused on the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action (BMF) and BMF-Plus Five adopted by UNESCAP, as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It emphasizes the necessity to form Self-help Organizations and a National League of Disabled Peoples' Organizations (DPOs) as well as forming a Central Asian Sub-regional Network.

APCD facilitated a meeting between Government officials from the Ministry of Labor and Social Development and Representatives of SHGs/SHOs to discuss collaboration for the CBSHOD, as well as exchange information. On the first day of the Workshop, self-help organizations confronted the Government officials but on the second day, the DPO sectors collaborated with the Government.

The Preparatory Committee for CBSHOD was successfully organized by the Government and SHG/SHO Sectors. It was significant to have the Psycho/Social Disability Group included as this was the first time for APCD to meet them. The mission team encouraged them to actively participate in the CBSHOD and collaborate with the APCD Project. APCD may plan to contact the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (WNUSP), which is an international organization working with psycho/social disabilities. APCD may seek the possibility of inviting resource persons for the CBSHOD through them.

Mr. Minoru Hiramoto, JICA Expert in Kyrgyzstan accompanied a PWD for Disability Equality Training (DET) in Malaysia organized by JICA Malaysia in November 2007, and planned to send high ranking Government officers to APCD for training in Bangkok.

The mission team visited the Untied Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to confirm their willingness to collaborate with APCD concerning CBSHOD. They will prepare a presentation for CBSHOD and contact other UNICEF Offices in Central Asia.

The mission team invited Mr. Ghulam Nabi Nizamani (Pakistan), Vice-President and Ms. Saowalak Thongkuay, Regional Development Officer, both of Disabled People's International (DPI), as Resource Persons for the above missions. They contributed by explaining the disability movement, self-help organizations and the importance of Discussion with Mr. Baktybek Jekshenov, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Labor and Social Development CBSHOD to SHGs/SHOs, Government sectors and JICA Offices. This is to both empower persons with disabilities and also identify persons with disabilities as the owners of APCD and CBSHOD.

Networking and Collaboration (N&C) on Intellectual Disabilities and the Deaf: Preparatory Missions to Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam from November to December 2007

Workshop for the Deaf in HCMC With technical cooperation from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the APCD Project Phase I (Aug 2002 - July 2007) successfully completed, Phase II (Aug 2007- July 2012) started with a focus on developing an effective and sustainable network and collaboration with/ among concerned organizations. One of the Phase II strategies is to help develop/strengthen groups/organizations of

persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) and their families and
the deaf, and to network and collaborate with/among them since APCD's network and collaboration with these groups was limited in Phase I.

APCD is aware that in its important target countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam (CLMV) only families of persons with ID have organized small groups but have not yet developed associations or a group of persons with ID themselves. Since their organizations have not yet been fully developed, APCD may need to support their capacity building while developing their network.

In the first year of the Project Phase II, APCD dispatched Missions to CLV; Cambodia (20-22 Nov), Viet Nam (3-8 Dec) and Laos (12-14 Dec) in 2007. In order to obtain relevant information/needs and identify key organizations and potential leaders, APCD organized a one-day local workshop and field visit respectively in Phnom-Penh, Ho-Chi-Minh, Hanoi, and Vientiane. Each Mission consisted of two teams, one for ID and another for the deaf, being responsible for respective workshops and field visits.

Workshop

The workshops could achieve the aims: A) to facilitate an exchange of information among stakeholders concerned with APCD, B) to share information on relevant international movement (e.g., the C o n v e n t i o n o n t h e Rights of Persons with Disabilities, "self-help" of people with disabilities and its global networks), and C) to introduce and discuss possible future collaboration with APCD.

The participants of local workshops for the deaf in CLV were deaf persons who are or have the potential to be "leaders" of their self-help groups/organizations and supporters for deaf persons including staff of organizations concerned. Also, the local workshops for ID accommodated persons with ID (self-advocates) who have the potential to develop more self-advocacy skills. (e.g., speak out about himself/ herself, advocate on behalf of peers with ID), family members of persons with ID and supporters for persons with ID. Every workshop had approximately 20 participants and more than the half had disabilities (ID or the deaf). APCD has applied a participatory approach and enhanced their maximum participation in the workshops, by providing documents in their local languages and encouraging the participants to speak out with interpretation and enjoy learning together.

Collaboration

For conducting these preparatory Missions, APCD collaborated with the Asia-Pacific Secretariat/Council of Inclusion International (II) and World Federation of the Deaf (WFD). JICA nominated and dispatched Japanese experts, Prof. Osamu Nagase and Dr. Akio Suemori, who represented the above international federations and served as resource persons for the local workshops. Also, Association for Persons with an Intellectual Disability of Thailand and Association of Parents for Thai Persons with Autism were actively involved, and with the National Association of the Deaf in Thailand (NADT) greatly contributing. Especially, Thai and Japanese deaf resource persons played an important role in facilitating the workshop, collecting in-depth information and serving as "role-models" for young deaf participants. APCD was convinced that its motto; "empowered PWD to empower other PWD", is significant and effective for N & C on ID and the deaf too.

Lao Minister of Labour and Welfare and Thai Resource Perons with Autism

Of course, precise issues related to the deaf and ID are not same, however it was apparent that they tend to be greatly excluded socially and in the development process of their countries. Despite all the efforts and current improvements in education of children with disabilities, formation of self-help groups of PWD, information & communication accessibility, etc. in their countries, persons with ID and deaf persons have not been involved or benefited much.

Deaf Community

As for the deaf, for example, there are no high school graduates yet in Cambodia and Laos, and only a few deaf persons have recently enrolled in a college in Viet Nam. Unfortunately, since many schools do not teach deaf students via their local sign language, their learning tends to be partial and many deaf students end up dropping out from their elementary education. Some Cambodian and Lao deaf students in regular schools under "inclusiveeducation" confessed that they are just copying other students' notebooks without understanding the subjects. A self-help group of the deaf has not yet been established in Cambodia, and the Deaf Unit under the Laos Disabled People's Association is primarily a place for the deaf to learn/ develop their sign language and get together regularly. In Viet Nam, while there are several groups/associations of the deaf in HCMC, Hanoi and other provinces, they could not have much regular communication and have not yet established a national association of the deaf. The number of sign language interpreters is few throughout each country, and many of them have not yet developed their professional attitudes, skills and experiences as an interpreter.

Intellectual Disability

Concerning persons with ID and their families, overall, basic services required and information are insufficient such as: early intervention, rehabilitation, education, employment support, etc. Only a few places are available for persons with ID to develop their educational and vocational potential. Especially in Cambodia and Laos, only several public/private organizations/professionals provide such information and services, which are not always accessible physically and financially for persons with ID and their poor families in rural areas. Also, it is not easy for many youth with ID to get a job and earn their living even though they have had some education. Quite recently, some parents, who had almost no information and became desperate about how to raise their children with disabilities, have started to get together to form their small self-help groups.

While APCD could see some common issues pertaining to ID or the deaf in these 3 countries, these countries' situation of persons with ID and the deaf are precisely at the different developmental stages, reflected by each country's history, current political and educational system and government policies for PWD, etc. Especially, deaf persons' education and movement have been more progressive in Viet Nam than the other 2 countries. In this connection, APCD will consider the characteristics of each country's issues and develop strategies for promoting N & C respectively for ID or the Deaf in CLMV. APCD's regional workshops and local follow-up workshops can be strategically linked and supplement each other in order to cater to respective countries' needs.

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