5.2 Profile of Non-Governmental Organizations of/for Persons with Disabilities

This Group arose due to the backward belief of the population which forced lepers to live in the forest and as time went by, they formed villages in various provinces. This Group is under the control of the NCDP. It has its own Village Head, Administration. Women's Union, Youth Organization, cultural and sports club as well as production sub-group. The average daily life of its members is similar to the average citizen except for their access to more special assistance from the Government and international organizations.

This NGO released a document entitled, Results of the National Survey of Disabled Persons (NSDP) in cooperation with the MOH The main goal of this nation-wide survey was to obtain figures on amputees (arm and/or leg) in the country. The statistics include living amputees who are victims of UXO and landmine-related accidents and also victims of accidents, bone cancer, leprosy, amputations as a result of infection, or poor circulation not related to UXO and landmines. Immunizers of the expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) sent out one page survey forms to as many villages as possible. Village chiefs were asked to fill out the forms along with the immunizer.

Handicap International's mission consists of providing assistance to persons with a disability in the area of prevention, rehabilitation and development. The sectors of intervention are adapted to the local situation and vary from physical (physical therapy, prosthetic workshop) to socio-economic projects (integration, self-help groups, and income generation). HI was contracted to conduct the National Socio-Economic Survey by UXO LAO and in 1997 began providing institutional and technical assistance to UXO LAO clearance activities in Savannakhet Province, ranked first for clearance and Community Awareness activities, having the highest total of accidents with a very high number of recent accidents. The project is now in Phase 2 and working in four districts. HI is also providing technical assistance and support to the physical therapy unit of Mahosot Hospital, Friendship Hospital, Sethatirath Hospital, Military Hospital 103, and the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation in Vientiane. This includes provision of continuing education training programs for hospital physical therapists. The project plans to expand to provincial hospitals in the future.

In 1997 the ILO organized a conference at NCMR under the banner of Challenge, Vocational Training and the Needs of Disabled Persons in Lao PDR and published the summary Lao PDR Disabled Persons, Training for Employment and Income Generation, Essential Strategic Keys, which included the following recommendations : 1. Draft Legislation on the rights of persons with disabilities to access, transportation, opportunity in vocational training, and employment; 2. The National Commission for Handicapped Persons should expand its scope to include all disabled persons, have relevant policies and be committed to implementing these policies according to a pre-planned schedule; 3. Seriously investigate disability types and their variance across different regions or zones. Additional attention should be given to promoting training and employment of persons with disabilities such as : Future Government Training Plan for targeted groups of persons with disabilities; Integration of various groups of persons with disabilities with the Lao Disabled Peoples' Association; Training facilities to meet the needs of persons with disabilities. 4. Develop information services to encourage persons with disabilities to participate in training and the development of new projects. 5. Cooperate with the Lao Disabled People Association (LDPA) in the compilation and dissemination of data on the potential and rights of persons with disabilities, as well as on training and employment opportunities for them.

NSL works in the area of control and treatment of leprosy within the National Center for Dermatology and Venerology (NCD), which operates and supervises 6 Leprosy Villages.

Partnership project with the Association for Aid and Relief (AAR) Japan. In the year 2000, the private Japanese organization donated 25 wheelchairs. A wheelchair assembling workshop is being planned under the NCMR as a JICA-NGO.

Since 1993, SCF-UK, in coordination with the Ministry of Education, has assisted with the Instructive Education Program (IEP) at the pre-primary and primary school levels. Recently, the first cycle of secondary schools was also included. In March 1999, IEP was implemented in 8 provinces (Vientiane Municipality, Vientiane, Khammouane, Savannakhet, Saravane, Champassack, Xayabouly and Luang PraBang Provinces) at 23 pre-primary schools, 39 primary schools and 3 high schools.

TLMI is involved in prevention, health education, and referral for treatment, surgery and footwear production. It has plans to start social and community-based interventions to improve the standard of living.

A vocational training center is being built in Sikeud Village, Nasaithong District, by the Sisters of St. Paul de Charters of Thailand. Courses will be set up for teaching computer skills, accounting, English, agricultural cropping, animal husbandry, tailoring and handicrafts. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2002-2003.

The original goal was to decrease the rate of epidemics and disabled adults and children by improving health at the village level using rehabilitation and health workers in each village. The main goal of Phase 2, which started at the end 1995 was composed of two activities: physical rehabilitation and income generation for disabled people and their families including management of project administration. The team consisted of one person from World Concern and two from the provincial rehabilitation section. At the moment, WC is working with 56 families who have a family member (child or adult) who is disabled in Saravan District (about 15 villages). Mr.Singkham, CBR Supervisor reported that most of their clients are deaf, amputees, or paralysis of one leg due to polio. Disabled people who are able to work are provided with a loan to establish a small enterprise. This could include breeding small animals like chickens, ducks or pigs with most of the work being performed by disabled person with some assistance from their families. Initially, the revolving fund loan had to be repaid within 6 months. However, WC found that clients had difficulty repaying within this time period extended it to 9-12 months. Some difficulty faced in this project is that people (both people with disabilities themselves and government officials) expect quick results and improvement in a short length of time. Also, because this program is working with a provincial office, the disabled individuals involved think that this is free help, a gift to help them and so are not very successful in repaying their loans.