Creation of Non-Handicapping Environment for Persons with Disabilities in the Rural Areas
PHILIPPINES
Technical Cooperation Project
October 2008 - September 2012
National Council on Disabled Affairs (NCDA)
The population of PWDs in the Philippines is about 940,000 people (1.23% of the population at large) according to the census executed in 2000. However, if the estimate ratio 10% of World Health Organization (WHO) is applied, about 9.2 million people are PWDs in the Philippines as of 2010. The rights of PWDs in the Philippines have been covered by the enactment of the Philippine Republic Constitution in 1987, the promulgation of the Republic Act No. 7277 (alias "Magna Carta of Persons with Disabilities (Great charter)") in 1992 and the promulgation of the Republic Act No. 9442 (articles of amendment on the Magna Carta) in 2007.
With regard to accessibility, the Accessibility Law B.P. 344 intended for barrier-free on building and public transportation. However, in terms of the implementation of the law, little progress has been made and a further effort should be undertaken in the Philippines. For example, steep ramps and ramps without handrails are seen left and right and most buildings are not accessible for PWDs. Thus, PWDs cannot fully participate in community development activities, which lead them to be trapped in poverty. Access to education, access to health care and access to employment are all limited for PWDs towards self-reliance and economic independence. Negative attitude toward PWDs worsens their situation and makes their participation more difficult.
The project aims at promoting physical accessibility on built-environment, and social accessibility on regulation, system, and people's attitude in community. In order to create NHE in the Philippines, the project implements activities based on a series of five (5) components/outputs as follows: Output 1) Implementing Mechanism to define the implementing and monitoring mechanisms, Output 2) Profiling to grasp/assess the situation on PWDs and physical accessibility, Output 3) Capacity Development to enhance capacity of counterparts/stakeholders, empower PWDs and their groups/organizations and promote their participation, Output 4) Advocacy to promote a removal of barriers in society, and Output 5) Networking to disseminate/share project experiences and NHE with International/National stakeholders.
A Non-Handicapping Environment (NHE) in light of the participation of PWDs is promoted in other rural municipalities in the Philippines.
Pioneering municipalities in close collaboration with NCDA create a Non-Handicapping Environment (NHE) in the rural areas, where physical and social accessibility (built-environment, legislation and people's attitude) are promoted.
1-1. | Orient the NCDA staff involved in the Project. |
1-2 | Conduct an orientation seminar for RCDA, pioneering municipalities and barangay officials to have common understanding of the Project. |
1-3 | Forge the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between NCDA and pioneering municipalities. |
1-4 | Develop a local and national implementing structure such as Project Management Team (PMT). |
1-5 | Design a local and national monitoring system to measure the progress of project activities. |
1-6 | Monitor and evaluate the project. |
2-1 | Collect the existing data on PWDs and physical accessibility in pioneering municipalities. |
2-2 | Develop/review instruments for situational survey. |
2-3 | Conduct trainings for profilings on PWDs and physical accessibility per pioneering municipality. |
2-4 | Share the data/information, when necessary. |
2-5 | Update the data/information periodically. |
3-1 | Develop/review a capacity development plan. |
3-2 | Evaluate the training. |
3-3 | Identify/develop/review training materials. |
3-4 | Conduct trainings. |
3-5 | Disseminate lessons-learned and take relevant actions by participants of the training, if necessary. |
3-6 | Monitor the application of knowledge, attitude, skills learned by PWDs and other training participants. |
3-7 | Document training results in order to recommend relevant action taken by NCDA, pioneering municipalities and other stakeholders. |
4-1 | Produce/distribute/review communication materials on NHE. |
4-2 | Conduct/participate in communication activities for advocacy on NHE. |
4-3 | Monitor the impact of communication materials/activities. |
4-4 | Conduct pre and post survey on people's understandings and attitudes towards disability and NHE. |
5-1 | Promote NHE through communication materials and National and International communication activities. |
5-2 | Monitor the impact of communication materials/activities. |
5-3 | Review/evaluate the established NHE network |
5-4 | Build network with other Local, National and International stakeholders to promote NHE. |
5-5 | Conduct study/observation tours in order to share information/resources/experiences acquired in pioneering municipalities. |
5-6 | Conduct/contribute to the National Forum on NHE in order to share information/resources/experiences acquired in pioneering municipalities. |