Issue
The World Health Organisation’s 2011 World Report on Disability says that 15 per cent of the world’s population live with some form of disability. 24 million live in Bangladesh alone, often in rural areas.
Project
Turning Point intends to develop the advocating capacity of Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) and persons with disabilities in rural areas, approximately 50% of whom are women with disabilities. By improving their organisational systems, DPOs are better able to identify and articulate their concerns which can then be included in the implementation of national and international laws designed to protect disabled people. The project is also establishing links between DPOs and government to secure equal opportunities and inclusion in national legislature on disability rights.
Turning Point is also helping DPOs overall understanding of international regulations, human rights protections, and other existing laws.
Endorsed project title: Developing the capacity of persons with disabilities and Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) to advocate for their rights
Turning Point Foundation
Turning Point Foundation was established in 2010 to focus on disability issues and the disabled people’s organisation movement. Turning Point Foundation which is run by persons with disabilities continues to work for the inclusion of persons living with disabilities in the decision making processes on issues that affect them and on establishing their rights. The organisation has good working relationships with the registered and unregistered DPOs and the all disability networks in Bangladesh.
www.turningpoint.bd
Issue
There are few opportunities to raise funds for Disability rights due to the gap that exists between young disabled people and their civil society organisations (CSOs) and local government.
Project
The Association of Young Disabled People of Mozambique (AJODEMO) is raising its members’ capacity to help local government departments and officials improve how they implement domestic and international legislation designed to support them.
This includes ensuring that the rights and entitlements of young people are better understood, respected, and enforced, with AJODEMO taking the lead in developing and facilitating opportunities for structured engagement between community and local government stakeholders.
The government of Mozambique has shown its commitment towards improving conditions for its young disabled people by ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and adopting new pieces of domestic legislation.
With a specific focus on the provinces of Maputo and Gaza, AJODEMO is working with the support of the UK-based Disability and Development Partners (DDP) on projects to improve the lives of young disabled people. The project will enhance young disabled people’s ability to engage in the community by fostering dialogue and improved relations with local government, improve their economic prospects, and reduce the stigma and discrimination they face.
AJODEMO President, Cantol Pondja, explained, “We at AJODEMO firmly believe that this project with funding from the Commonwealth Foundation and DDP support has the potential to establish a new way for young disabled people and government officials and institutions to engage with each other for everybody’s benefit – particularly to give young disabled people better chances in life.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rSFTW0kpRc?rel=0]
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Issue
Women living with HIV in Uganda are significantly underrepresented in the decision-making processes that affect their healthcare, their living standards and ultimately their lives.
Project
International Community of Women Living with HIV Eastern Africa (ICWEA) works with the women to strengthen their institutional and technical know-how to take part in policy discussions on HIV. ICWEA helps the women’s groups develop strong knowledge of vital elements of a participatory process, including budgets and monitoring and evaluation, allowing them to shape the structures and debates. It will work with the groups to develop their confidence to open up the avenues through which they can communicate with other women’s groups for more concerted policy advocacy and engagement at bi-annual meetings attended by district officials and key local organisations
ICWEA has been building relationships within Uganda since it was first formed in 2005, feeding into health and HIV/AIDS policy processes, addressing related issues and advocating for change for several years. Its continued push for direct engagement with these decision makers and legislators has the long-term aim of allowing women living with HIV to sustain their own advocacy efforts and continue to push health sector reforms long after the grant project is completed.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mESwNiZqDkc?rel=0]
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Issue
By involving people in marginalised and rural communities in the processes that determine their health services and policies, health outcomes for those communities will be improved.
Project
Health Poverty Action is helping civil society organisations in Kenya, Namibia and Rwanda to build their capacity to share best practices for the participation of marginalised groups in health service governance. This project is looking at the participatory structures that are already in place in three African countries – Kenya, Rwanda and Namibia – and exploring how they can be enhanced, documented, and potentially scaled up and shared with other countries.
At the moment, a Community Conversation approach is being used in Kenya, where solutions are directly sought from communities themselves through discussion sessions with community leaders and influencers, facilitated by trained moderators. In Namibia, designated Clinic Health Committees (CHCs) support dialogues with health service providers to make sure solutions are relevant, culturally appropriate and fit to meet the needs of the communities. And in Rwanda, the traditional Ubudehe social protection system sees communities – under the guidance of trained facilitators – select a priority community project from a list of options and decide collectively on actions to take.
With a grant from the Commonwealth Foundation, Health Poverty Action is helping civil society organisations in each of these countries to build their capacity to support and enhance these systems. The organisations in Namibia and Rwanda are supported in building Kenya’s Community Conversation into their systems, while also being trained in participatory methods that help them to draw inputs and contributions from communities that have previously been unable to make their voices heard on this vital aspect of their existence. In each country meetings will be held with decision makers to share their learnings on participatory methods, with the aim of embedding the on-going contributions of these under-heard communities into the fabric of their national healthcare systems.
The Commonwealth Foundation awarded a grant of up to £45,000 over 18 months for this project.
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Issue
Civic voice dialogue with governance institutions is a critical element of participatory governance. The Foundation promotes constructive engagement as an approach to advocacy between governments and civic voices. Commonwealth Ministerial spaces, where open to civil society participation, provide an opportunity for civil society working on issues relevant to the Ministerial agenda to engage with decision-makers and to put forward their positions.
Constructive engagement implies that governance institutions recognise that CSOs are independent development actors in their own right and offer a wide range of expertise and experience in development solutions and innovation.
Project
The Commonwealth Health Ministers Meeting (CHMM) is held every year in Geneva.
This video explains what the CHMM Civil Society Forum is about.
The Commonwealth Foundation, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat and host governments has, where feasible and relevant, convened a Civil Society Forum (CSF) as a pre-conference meeting.
The CSF enables the presence and participation of Commonwealth civil society to put forward a position on issues discussed at the Ministerial meetings with the intention that civil society’s policy asks will be taken on to the World Health Assembly. The Commonwealth Foundation has enabled the participation of civic voices from the margins which includes local leaders, subject experts or representatives of communities impacted by the policy under discussion. The Forum also provides civic actors the opportunity to share good practises and build partnerships on issues impacting diverse constituencies.
Issue
Stigma has been identified as the most significant challenge for people living with HIV and AIDS, stopping many from accessing health services early.
Project
Children’s Radio Foundation are training mentors and young people in Cape Town to use radio as a tool to get young people talking about HIV/AIDS in their community. A project entitled ‘Future Positive‘ will train 12 facilitators to lead radio training workshops for 70 young people, increasing airtime allocated to discussions about HIV/AIDS by 200% and creating over 200 hours of relevant content directed at young people.
Through radio training and broadcast, stories will be shared, fostering dialogue within the wider community. Young people at clinics and community centres will be trained to host talk shows and facilitate events within the community, involving decision makers, policy stakeholders and other young people.
This initiative will create more airtime for programming on HIV and AIDS and train radio staff and youth mentors to engage with audiences more effectively.
It will also create platforms for young people living with HIV/AIDS to speak openly about their experiences. The project will facilitate feedback by involving decision makers and policy stakeholders. A curriculum for community radio stations and pop-up stations to engage audiences around HIV and AIDS will be developed and shared widely with other civil society organisations in Africa. The content will be distributed to local and national stakeholders via outreach activities, contributing to the learning component of the project. It will be delivered as part of a joint work plan with the government of Cape Town.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMFIFgh7GFc?rel=0]
Children’s Radio Foundation – South Africa
Children’s Radio Foundation is a registered not-for-profit organisation in South Africa, the UK and the USA, providing young people with the skills to make their voices heard. It uses radio to create opportunities for dialogue, participation, leadership and active citizenship. Through radio broadcasts, young people can speak about their concerns and reach out to others, sparking important conversations in their communities.
www.childrensradiofoundation.org
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Issue
Unequal opportunities for women to access their health rights and unequal social and gender norms that justify the marginalisation of people affected by HIV/AIDS.
Project
KELIN are creating a strong civil society network to help improve capacity to influence policy on HIV and AIDS-related issues in Kenya.
With the support of a Commonwealth Foundation grant, KELIN Kenya will develop networks promoting participatory governance. By enhancing people’s knowledge of human rights and current government policies, they will be better placed to engage in decision making processes.
Roundtable discussions with parliamentarians on discriminatory laws will also inform the future development of policy briefs.
KELIN
KELIN is a human rights NGO working to protect and promote HIV-related human rights in Kenya.
They do this by: providing legal services and support, training professionals on human rights, engaging in advocacy campaigns that promote awareness of human rights issues, conducting research and influencing policy that promotes evidence-based change.
www.kelinkenya.org
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