Current Project
Voices for Inclusion and Civil Society Empowerment (VOICE), Finance by the European Commission
Duration: 2021-2023
Partners: Williette Safehouse Liberia, Oscar Romero School, National Union of the Disabled (NUOD), National Commission on Disabilities (NCD).
Project Objective: to strengthen organizations of persons with disabilities to improve their capacity and autonomy in supporting the socio-economic emancipation of deaf and hard of hearing people in Liberia.
Scope of Project:
- Activities will include capacity building of local organizations (training courses, meetings
- Advocacy actions for the rights of persons with disabilities (meetings and round tables
- Radio and television programs for raising awareness
- Vocational training and entrepreneurship of young people that are deaf and hard of hearing
- Sign language courses
- Trade fairs
- Networking with the private sector).
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Coordinated Action on Disability in Liberia (CAD-L): Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA)
Duration: 2020-2021
Partners: National Union of the Disabled (NUOD), National Commission on Disabilities (NCD), Liberia Alliance on Disability, Liberia Labor Congress e ILO.
Project Objective: to promote the economic empowerment of people with disabilities in Liberia to help building a more inclusive society, also addressing discrimination and self-marginalization.
Scope of Project:
- Collect baseline data and identify key indicators for measuring program outcomes for the coordinated action program on disability in Liberia (CAD-L):
- The impact of COVID-19 and restriction measures on PWDs;
- The perception that public opinion has on PWDs and the role that PWDs have in the socio-economic development of the country (economic contribution)
- Data relating to employment and self-employment of people with disabilities
- Pilot experimental approaches for the economic empowerment of people with disabilities in Liberia.
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Disability and Start-up Project(Project Financed by the Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation)
Project Objective
Contribute to reinforce the role of Disabled People Organizations (DPOs) in the socioeconomic development processes and in the fulfillment of PWDs rights.
Scope of Project
- Diagnostic study of NUOD and (9) DPOs’ institutional and management capacities
- Baseline study of Liberian business and economic landscape for social inclusiveness
- Emancipatory research study for the inclusion of mental health users in the processes of economic empowerment
- Promotion of PWDs rights.
- Empowerment of PWDs through inclusive business start-up.
- Exchange of best practices with other African countries through regional bodies.
- National consultations with stakeholders and policy makers.
- County consultations with stakeholders and policy makers.
- Communication programs on the rights of PWDs through media outlets.
- Mental Health app development to building knowledge and capacity of users and their families
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Past projects
Psychosocial support to those affected by the Ebola virus
WHO WERE THE BENEFICIARIES?
AIFO’s psychosocial project was designed to address the psychosocial needs of Ebola affected children including survivors, family members and communities that were isolated as a result of the outbreak. The project focused on 12 districts throughout the six counties, as this was where a good number of EVD related cases and incidences were concentrated. The majority of beneficiaries where survivors, affected families, children and communities earmarked for the project. However, other children did benefit indirectly through the assistance given to their parents. However, in practice, the projects aimed to provide basic psychosocial assistance to the entire population of EVD victims in the targeted districts and communities, and prevention activities (i.e. counselling) to children experiencing more problems. The direct beneficiaries of the population in need of psycho-social support within the 34 targeted communities were 1,800 people while the total number of indirect beneficiaries of the project was put at 113,060.
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Support for the Strategic Plan for the Fight against Leprosy
Specific objectives:
- Increase the quantity, quality and access to services for the identification and treatment of leprosy provided by primary health centers in the communities involved in the project through specific training of medical and paramedical staff.
- Develop a system of operators of RBC and health volunteers trained for the early identification of people affected by leprosy in communities, strengthening the referral system between the community and primary health centers in the area.
- Improving education and the socioeconomic status of people affected by leprosy and persons with disabilities living in the project, with particular attention to the access of children to primary and secondary school.
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Mental Health: Promoting Rights, Fighting Stigma
Mental Health System, an Introduction
Mental health may be defined as a state of well-being in which
a person realizes his or her own abilities, can work productively, can collaborate with other people and is able to make a contribution to his or her community
(WHO, 2005a). This definition, promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) is a positive definition of mental health, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Like other health conditions, mental health and mental disorders are linked to multiple factors: biological, sociological and psychological, which are themselves interlinked. There are specific vulnerabilities associated with indicators of poverty, low levels of education and low income. Mental Health can be by affected by policies and practices in domains such as housing, education and childcare. While mental disorders increase the risk of physical diseases, and contribute to unintentional and intentional injury, many health conditions increase the risk of mental disorders and comorbidity complicates help-seeking, diagnosis and treatment and also influences prognosis (Prince et al., 2007). Generally, persons with mental health disorders face many difficulties then accessing mental health care. There are different problematic ways of dealing with severe mental health conditions within health systems and these can be summarized as follows:
- A considerable number of persons with severe mental disorder do not receive any medical or psychosocial help as it lacks in the mental health care system.
- Some of these persons are subject to compulsory treatments involving violence, long-term segregation and/or human rights violation.
- Some of them can only access services which are not adequate or equipped with the necessary knowledge, sufficient experience and/or adequate technologies to meet their care needs.
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NARRATIVE REPORT ON THE RESIDENTIAL TRAINING FOR CBR
Executive Summary
A residential training for CBR workers was held from July 1- 24th, 2013 at the Red
Cross Compound in Gbarnga, Bong County. The theme of the training was “PROMOTING THE VALUE OF HUMAN DIVERSITY THROUGH INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT”. At least thirteen (13) community workers from across six counties in Liberia participated in the training course. Disaggregated figures per county ;(Nimba County- 3 Community workers, Bong County- 2 Community workers, Margibi County- 1 Community worker, Grand Gedeh County-3Community workers, Maryland County-2 Community workers, Rivergee County-2 Community workers).Out of the 13 Community workers, only 11 were eligible and qualify to be endorsed as a CBR worker. Therefore, in Maryland County, 1 CBR worker emerged while in Rivergee County, 1 CBR worker also emerged. The rest were maintained and fully endorsed as CBR workers following the evaluation exercise.
Experienced facilitators in the development sector specifically on issues relating to disabilities facilitated several topics throughout the training course. Suitable topics relating to the overall establishment of CBR as a strategy were earmarked as part of the training. For example; Disability and CBR, Self Help Groups and Income Generating Activities, Human Rights and CBR, Mental Health and CBR among many other related topics.