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EDID Program

ABOUT

EDID is a program in the  CBC Health Services which is complementing the Socio Economic Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SEEPD) Program. The EDID program mobilizes technical resources from within and out of the CBCHS to strengthen the capacity of partner organisations.

OBJECTIVE

Our  main objective is to empower children and youths with disabilities within the age range of of 25 years. We accomplish this  by facilitating their access to education, healthcare, social and livelihood opportunities and by creating enabling environments for disability inclusive development through local partner organizations in 9 regions of Cameroon

EDID Program

COMPONENTS OF INTERVENTION

EDID Program

EDUCATION

EDID Program

HEALTH

EDID Program

SOCIAL

EDID Program

lIVELIHOOD

Education

Using the child centered approach, we support over 25  Partner organizations (POS) to address the education needs of children with disabilities (CWD). In this light, we strive  to provide extra assistance, specialized equipment, audio and other relevant devices, subsidize  school fees, Braille and sign language to enable CWDs learn in inclusive schools

Also, we  remove barriers in the educational environment of our beneficiaries; This we do by supporting POs to invest in activities/projects such as: infrastructural modifications, education and sensitization and capacity building of various stakeholders.

Every year, we support an average of 1500 CWDs in the education component..  Since inception, thousands of children with disabilities have been supported to access education in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in mainstream and specialized settings. Through advocacy and trainings at various levels, EDID strengthens education stakeholders to promote inclusive education at their different levels.

Health

Through our POs, we support activities to improve the individual functionality of our target beneficiaries. This is achieved by providing corrective surgeries, medications, assistive devices such as mobility, positioning, daily living, vision, hearing and communication devices.

To ensure an enabling environment, EDID provides capacity building programs for stakeholders to change their perceptions and negative attitudes towards children with disabilities.

We specifically empower parents with skills and knowledge to better manage their child’s impairment and health situation at home.

The health needs of over 1000 children with impairment are met every year.

Social

The  EDID Program supports five key elements of the social component consisting of: personal assistance (relationships) marriage and family, culture and arts, recreation (leisure and sports) and access to justice which are crucial issues hindering social inclusion of children with disabilities. Awareness is raised to challenge the negative attitudes of family and community members towards children and youths with disabilities. Advocacy efforts under this component have led to annual inclusive sporting events, holiday camps, beauty pageants etc. Also, we engage children without disabilities as Disability Champions to foster inclusion.

All 3000 children supported under the program yearly benefit from social inclusion opportunities.

Livelihood

We support youngsters with disability  of working age to develop skills and acquire meaningful work as a means to escaping poverty. Some have been able to access waged employment opportunities, while others are self-employed. In collaboration with Partner Organizations, we undertake continuous advocacy actions to ensure that local and non-governmental enterprises and companies become more open, and improve their attitudes towards youths with disabilities by seeing them as having capabilities comparable to their peers without disability.

 Over 200CWDs benefit from this component yearly.  

RESEARCH

The EDID Program is actively involved in research to inform program interventions. It has concluded a research on “factors contributing to the abuse of children with disabilities: From awareness to action”.

 We  have partnered with the African Study Centre, through the Liliane Foundation to receive groups of researchers who come to the CBC Health Services on annual basis to conduct research on our advocacy efforts on “breaking down barriers to inclusion for persons with disabilities”.  Five researches have been conducted and published, available at https://www.barriersfree.org/downloads

Partnership has been established between the University of Radbound (the Netherlands) Liliane Foundation, One Family People (Sierra Leone) and the CBC Health Services for yearly researches to be  conducted to inform practice.

Strategy

We provide financial and technical support to 25 Partner Organizations in nine of the ten regions of Cameroon to ensure that children with disabilities have access to the different program components, so as to enable them participate as equals in every aspect of societal life. This is implemented through the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) / Community Based Inclusive Development (CBID) approach. 

Impairments Considered

We support children and youths with all types of impairments including: visual, speech, hearing, intellectual, multiple birth defects like hydrocephalus, epilepsy, spinal bifida and developmental impairments like autism, Down syndrome.

Interventions Provided

  • Direct assistance to children with impairments from

Very needy background to access education, health, social and livelihood opportunities. 

  • Lobby and advocacy for inclusive institutions and accessible environments.
  • Support schools and vocational training establishments to adopt inclusive practices.
  • Sensitize, educate, raise awareness to eliminate negative attitudes about disabilities.
  • Psychosocial support to parents to accept and love their children with impairment.
  • Provision of means of transport (thanks to MIVA funding) to partner organizations for effective field visits of beneficiaries in hard to reach communities.
  • Capacity building in a wide range of disability inclusive development concept.

Our Areas of Coverage in Cameroon Regions Yearly, over 3000 children with impairment access inclusive services in Cameroon as a result of our interventions and close to 2million persons without impairment benefit indirectly through our various community activities

Some Achievements

  • Improved quality of Inclusive education provided to children with disabilities thanks to the technical and material support provided to mainstream schools to become inclusive.
  • The built environments of homes, schools and social facilities have been made more accessible to persons with disabilities.
  • The capacity of parents of children with disabilities has been strengthened. This is enabling them to better  manage their their children’s disability, to participate in resource mobilization, and in lobby and advocacy activities.
  • Better outcomes in health, education, social and livelihood opportunities for children with disabilities as a result of regular home visits.
  • Increased awareness on disability issues is leading to increased acceptance and better care for children with disabilities. 
  • The availability of means of transportation and communication provided by MIVA, has facilitated regular follow-up of children with disabilities and the implementation of CBR.

Partner with us to Support a Child with an Impairment The program is funded by the Dutch Based Liliane Foundation

EDID Program

 Through funding from the Liliane Foundation, we support 3000 children with disabilities on annual basis to access healthcare, education, social and livelihood opportunities. From the WHO’s estimates, there are close to 3.9 million persons with disabilities in Cameroon. The combined efforts of organizations like the Liliane Foundation, the government, and other International and National Non-Governmental organizations are contributing greatly to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities in Cameroon. Despite these, the needs are still enormous as more and more children from very needy backgrounds are still not able to access basic services as a result of poverty. You can partner with us to support a child with impairment in Cameroon.  Partner with us to ensure better life outcomes for children with disabilities in Cameroon!

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Contact Us

Info

+237 673 300 711
edid@cbchealthservices.org

Address

Empowerment & Disability Inclusive Development  (EDID) PROGRAM

Bamenda
Cameroon

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