From Local to Global. Community Based Rehabilitation - A Strategy for Implementing Inclusive Development

On 3rd and 4th May 2012, the international conference 'From Local to Global. Community Based Rehabilitation - A Strategy for Implementing Inclusive Development' took place in Bonn, Germany.

In workshops and presentations, the 80 participants dealt with the CBR guidelines developed by the World Health Organisation, UNESCO and the International Labour Organisation and discussed how inclusion can be practically implemented in development cooperation.

The inclusion of persons with disabilities in development projects and programmes has become mandatory through the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This affects all essential areas and levels of development cooperation.

With the guidelines for Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR), a strategy was further developed in 2010 that concretely shows how inclusive development cooperation can be implemented in practice.

A characteristic of CBR is that projects are implemented close to the community and people with disabilities and their environment are actively involved in decision-making processes and project implementation. This participatory approach of CBR thus contributes decisively to putting the participation of persons with disabilities demanded by the UN Convention into practice. Another strength of the CBR guidelines is that they can also be applied in rural regions with limited infrastructure. All available resources are pooled, because CBR includes people with disabilities, their families and communities, as well as experts. For example, in a rural region in India, over 50 accessible toilets were built in a short period of time under the responsibility of community members and with little support from the state. Chapal Khasnabis (WHO) sees one reason for the success of CBR programmes in the self-responsibility and motivation of the community members: "Development is faster and better when people shape it themselves and take responsibility. Speakers used examples from Malawi, Egypt and Nepal to show that CBR has proven itself in practice. CBR is already being used in 90 countries, according to Mike Davies (Christoffel Blind Mission), who contributed to the CBR guidelines along with many other practitioners. While CBR was originally developed for the health sector, the approach can now be applied in all areas of life such as education, health, social protection, work and empowerment.

In the concluding panel discussion, both state and private actors in development cooperation made it clear that the inclusion of people with disabilities is not the task of experts, but the responsibility of each individual - which is precisely the approach of CBR.

The conference was jointly organised by Disability and Development Cooperation (bezev), Caritas International and the Christoffel Mission for the Blind (CBM).

Press Release - 1 MB

Conference Programme - 1 MB

Venkatesh Balakrishna from the Timbaktu Collective (India) speaking in plenary session

Documentation of the Conference

Take a look at the summary of the conference in the form of the professional article (pdf, 77.7kb). Insight into the presentations of the conference can be found below:

Presentations in plenary:

The Potential of the UN Convention for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Development Initiatives (pdf, 82 KB)
Marianne Schulz, Human Rights Consultant, Vienna

Introduction to the CBR Guidelines (pdf, 518 KB)
Mike Davies, CBM, Manila

Making Inclusion a Reality (pdf, 1,2 MB)
Chapal Khasnabis, WHO, Geneva

CBR and Livelihood (pdf, 80,5 KB)
Peter Coleridge, Independent Consultant, Toronto

Addressing Inclusive Education for Realizing the Right to Quality Education for All (pdf, 259 KB)
Florence Migeon, UNESCO, Paris

CBR-Programmes in Malawi (pdf, 1,4 MB)
Alick Chavuta, CBM, Malawi

Diversity and Disability Rights (pdf, 82,2 KB)
Venkatesh Balakrishna, Timbaktu Collective, India

Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Their Families in the Light of UNCRPT and CBR (pdf, 86 KB)
Venkatesh Balakrishna, Timbaktu Collective, India

Study Report on Supported Living Projekt (pdf, 1,6 MB)
Venkatesh Balakrishna, Timbaktu Collective, India

The more than 90 participants were given an intensive insight into the topic of community-based rehabilitation through various presentations.

Findings From the Working Groups

In the course of the meeting, the participants deepened the topics of empowerment, health, education and livelihood in working groups. Finally, the inclusion of CBR components in the areas of health, education, labour, good governance and human rights was discussed. The results of the working groups can be found here:

3rd May

Working Group: Empowerment

Empowerment at National Level (pdf, 974 KB)
Svein Brodtkorb, Norwegian Association of Disabled, Oslo

Zusammefassung der Arbeitsgruppe/Summary from the Working Group (pdf, 1 MB)

Working Group: Health

Experiences with the Health Component of CBR (pdf, 4,9 MB)
Huib Cornielje, Enablement, The Netherlands

Zusammenfassung der Arbeitsgruppe/Summary from the Working Group (pdf, 1 MB)

Working Group: Education

Inclusive Education in India (pdf, 192 KB)
Poonam Natarajan, National Trust, New Delhi

Zusammenfassung der Arbeitsgruppe/Summary from the Working Group (pdf, 1 MB)

Arbeitsgruppe: Livelihood

Workshop on Livelihood (pdf, 133 KB)
Peter Coleridge, Independent Consultant, Toronto