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This practical guide is divided into three sections to present a systematic approach of access to services for people with disabilities. The principles and benchmarks section outlines key factors for accessing services and provides an analysis of the service sector for people with disabilities. The practical guide section presents the steps involved in planning at the programme level, and the toolbox section offers practical tools to implement the proposed techniques. A glossary and comprehensive bibliography are also provided. This resource is useful to those interested in access to service for people with disabilities

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the conditions needed for sustainable community based rehabilitation (CBR) programmes for persons with disabilities in Vietnam, and to identify the conditions and opportunities missing at present for the implementation of such programmes.

Method: Two CBR programmes in Vietnam, one medical based and one comprehensive (medical, educational, livelihood, social and empowerment), were evaluated for requirements and the current situation. Four factors were taken into account - human resources, organisational setting, social and political environment, and financing. Data were collected through interviews with programme managers and focus groups with stakeholders from provincial, district and communal levels, and with persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities also completed a questionnaire to evaluate their satisfaction with the programme and their involvement in it.

Results: The conditions needed for a sustainable CBR programme were identified: availability of human resources, training, monitoring and evaluation, collaboration, commitment and financing. The conditions missing at present were: a stable pool of human resources (in both programmes), collaboration between sectors and with local authorities (in the medical programme), and knowledge about how to maintain financing (in both programmes). Persons with disabilities were more satisfied with their involvement in the comprehensive programme than in the medical programme. Stakeholders proposed opportunities to increase sustainability; highest priority was given to a collaboration plan (comprehensive CBR programme) and to involvement of other sectors in the CBR Steering Committee (medical CBR programme).

Conclusions: Few differences were found in conditions needed for sustainability of the medical and comprehensive programmes. The existence of disabled persons’ organisations (DPOs) seemed to be associated with the level of satisfaction persons with disabilities felt with their involvement in the programme.

Limitations: The People’s Committee was not involved in this research, although their input was perceived to be important. Generalisation of the results of this study should be done with caution because health system structures and organisational levels of CBR differ.

"This guidance note outlines four main areas for mainstreaming the rights of persons with disabilities: UN cooperation at country level; country analysis (preceding UNDAF development); strategic planning (development of the UNDAF and its results matrix) and monitoring and evaluation (M&E)....By mainstreaming disability rights in their work at country level, UNCTs can respond to the request of persons with disabilities themselves, who have been calling for a new approach to disability, grounded on the conviction that all persons should be equally valued"

“Since 2001, local NGO Dakupa,with the support of WaterAid, began to implement a water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) project in several urban municipalities in the Central East region of Burkina Faso. In line with the principles of equity and inclusion, the objective of this project was to improve access to WASH services for people with disabilities (PWD) through the construction of accessible water points and latrines. To date, about ten wheelchair accessible standpipes have been constructed in places such as the town of Tenkodogo, the subject of this study”

Case study 11