Acknowledgment

Before we begin this report, I would like to thank all of those who helped to make this project a success; staff members, volunteer workers, financial supporters and sponsors; our achievements would have been impossible without them. The project has helped a great many disabled people during this period and we have expansive plans for the future so I solicit their continued support and assistance.

Donors list

No

Name of Foundation

1

Center for Independent Living Mainstream Association

2

Partner Independent Living Center

3

Muchyu Independent Living Center

4

Asia Pacific Network for Independent Living Center

5

Mr. Kendrick Kahler (individual)

6

Mutual Aid Association

 

Message from Executive Director

PPCIL’s main goal is to disseminate an Independent Living movement concept, barrier-free movement and providing personal assistant service to people with severe disability in the community in order to create a personal assistance system in the national level.

Grassroots of people with disabilities have been involving in the project activities when PPCIL conducts an event of Community Training on disability issue and widespread an independent living movement to become the best way to promote the rights of people with disabilities in our communities. All participants with disabilities attended our events/trainings/workshops/seminars have always received positive ideas about disability and known themselves more clearly by focusing on the important concepts of disability. In addition, they can share how to build capacity as well as their experiences to other people in the community.

Mey Samith, Founder/Executive Director

 

Organization Background

Phnom Penh Center for Independent Living (PPCIL) is a non-governmental organization based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, established in 2009 and led by people with disabilities, for people with disabilities. PPCIL is the first center for independent living in Cambodia and we have been working tirelessly to disseminate the independent living (vs homebound/institutional) model, and increase accessibility and awareness of disability concepts in order to change the negative stereotype of people with disabilities and therefore, influence policy change. Our most recent project is initiating the Personal Assistant Service (PAS) for people with different severe disabilities such as polio, high-level spinal cord injuries and cerebral palsy, so they can live independently in the community and have an opportunity for fully equal participation in society.

 

Introduction

This activity report has been written to briefly highlight outputs made by PPCIL team in working through our annual achievement on development of disability movement throughout the IL movement in fiscal year 2013-2014. PPCIL mainly works to disseminate an Independent Living movement concept, barrier-free movement and providing personal assistant service to people with severe disability in the community in order to create a personal assistance system in the national level.

Grassroots of people with disabilities have been involving in the project activities when PPCIL conducts an event of Community Training on disability issue and widespread an independent living movement to become the best way to promote the rights of people with disabilities in our communities. All participants with disabilities attended our events/trainings/workshops/seminars have always received positive ideas about disability and known themselves more clearly by focusing on the important concepts of disability. In addition, they can share how to build capacity as well as their experiences to other people in the community.

Throughout the training on rights of PWDs, we also mentioned about the local disability law on the “Protection and the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disability” (PPRPD) which has been adapted and promulgated in July 2009 and the UNCRPD which was ratified by the government of Cambodia since December 2012. We believe that the implementation on the PPRPD and UNCRPD and further supports on understanding of people will be getting better on The Protection of Human Rights which has been engaged with the issue of disability and provide an important tool to respect and protect the human rights and living with dignity of PWDs in the society.

PPCIL also has been working basically to keep spreading an IL concept in the target areas to encourage and empower people with disabilities and to enhance personal assistant service (PAS) as well as carrying out various advocacy campaigns to enlighten the basic needs of PWDs to local authorities, private sectors and relevant institutions in order to increase the participation of PWDs in the decision making process. We also attended the meeting with government level to include a disability issue into the national development strategic planning 2014-2018.

Current Activity of Phnom Penh-CIL

  1. Provide the personal assistance to assist people with severe disabilities.

Objective: To provide PAS to severe disabled people in target areas to allow them to live in good and appropriate conditions, be able to make their own decisions in taking part in any social activities and to eliminate the load of family responsibilities. Particularly, we together should consecutively set up the personal assistance system in the national level.

Achievement:

 

The program has conducted three courses of attendant training program, provided an orientation to students at various universities and invited the potential students and community people to join the attendant training which was held at PPCIL office. After the training, PPCIL hopes that all trainees better understand challenges and situations of persons with severe disabilities in daily life and understand about the necessity to help a person with severe disability.

Currently, PPCIL still has had eleven personal assistants to assist five PA users who are living in community. Our PA users have used PA to move around the village, so they can meet with their friends as well as talk with local authorities about their concerns and real daily situation.

PPCIL plans to initiate 3 years project of “Role Model of Personal Assistance Service” in order to give government and local government an idea about PA and invite the government to see people with severe disabilities, who are using PA to assist their daily living, and to see the whole project activity, and after that convince government to support the project. In addition, we would like to show what the real needs and an importance of personal assistance service for people with severe disabilities for initiative idea forming to create PA system in the national level.

 

 

  1. Disability concept and Social awareness raising

Objective: Heightened awareness on disability concept among PWDs, the general public and local, regional and national public, private and religious officials of the rights, needs and abilities of PWDs.

Achievement: Awareness about disability IL movement, PWDs’ rights, abuses, problems and abilities were raised in 29 training seminars and short lectures to 6 public educational institutions in Phnom Penh in 2014 and 2015; 1,000 brochures were printed in Khmer language; and 1,000 brochures were printed in English which focuses on PPCIL’s operational programs and mentions about the core of IL concepts that were distributed to the public, SHGs, PWDs, visitors,

This period, there are 1350 participants attended the short training seminars, including students and professors/teachers from three high schools and four universities are Chea Sim Chhukva, Santhormok, Baktouk, Toul Tompong, Yokunthor high school, BBU, Khemarak etc…..

 

Recently, in March 2014 PPCIL conducted two seminars at PPCIL’s office. The first seminar was on 14 March under the topic sharing experience on independent living movement between Cambodia-Japan which had speakers from Mainstream Association such as Mr. Hata and Ms. Arai and other Mainstream members as well as local participants which was about 100 participants in total. More importantly, the seminar presided by chief of Porsenchey district Mr. Hem Darith; he strongly supports all PPCIL activities. He also committed to welcome people with disabilities who were interested to work at district office which will be introducted by PPCIL.

On 21 March, we also conducted seminars under the topic Mutual Understanding which was presided by chief of department of socail welfare; and we invited speakers from Osaka Health Science University (OHSU) and participated by professors as well as unversity students about 60 parcitipants..

 

  1. Advocacy program

Objective: To build a strong disability movement and to advocate for increasing accessibility and services of PWDs in order to have fully participation in the society.

Achievement: PPCIL has conducted an advocacy activity such as barrier-free check by meeting and lobbying the local office, institutions, companies and invite mass-medias to involve promoting awareness on IL activities.

As an outcome, PPCIL team has tested to take and check the city bus, and we found that Phnom Penh city bus is not designed and does not have accessibility for people with disabilities, so we, PPCIL, appealed to the Phnom Penh city hall and Phnom Penh department of public works and transport who are in charge to initiate bus that can be accessible for persons with disabilities to use in Cambodia. At this moment, we would like to request the government, donors, NGOs and relevant institutions to work together to ensure the public bus that equipped for persons with disabilities can access to travel in the country. People with disability face many barriers, including physical, social, economic and attitudinal. These barriers prevent them from full and effective participation in their society.

In the Law on the Protection and the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that all government institutions and private sectors working together to organize for public accessibilities or the means of transportation for persons with disabilities to enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life on an equal basis with others. We believe that, through our activities, the government will consider and purchase an accessible bus to allow persons with disabilities to realize their rights, and we hope that relevant institutions on transportation will increase understanding about disability and include disability into the development plans.

 

On 08th December 2014 at National Institute of Social Affairs, PPCIL organized the International Symposium on Independent Living movement of People with Disabilities which was presided over by H.E. Sem Sokha, Secretary of State of Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation and conducted a Kokorozashi IL international network meeting which is in partnership with Mainstream Association, Muchyu center and partner center. We invited Kokorozashi members who are activist speakers from 6 countries such as Japan, S.Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Nepal.

The main purposes are to share general progresses, experiences and achievement of struggles made by activist members of KOKOROZASHI IL international network, and to strengthen the international disability rights network through the KOKOROZASHI IL international network to make an international subordinate to support each other in order to promote independent living movement in the regions.

 

  1. Peer-Counseling

Ms. Bopha as in charge for a peer counseling program, she has organized peer counseling session at office by invited 8 people with disabilities from community to make a peer.

 

As a result, the process of consultation to each other on how PWDs heal the pains from various social oppressions and family as well as discussion about how to recover their sense self-reliance and discharge an emotional feeling help them turn to recognize their own disability. Particularly, in Cambodia, most of people with disabilities are always thinking and want to treat their disability better than go to join a disability movement in order to change the society. Moreover, peer counseling session also makes the reconstruct human relationships be based upon trust.