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Purpose: This paper reports the process of development of a CBR programme by UP Manila College of Allied Medical Professions, and its impact on the stakeholders: persons with disabilities, students and alumni, CBR workers, local leaders and the agencies involved in the programme.

Method: The impact of the programme was assessed through interviews, questionnaires, focus group discussions and review of secondary data and records.

Results: The programme results show that the condition of persons with disabilities has improved and there has been a remarkable change in their knowledge, attitudes and skills. The positive attitudes, skills and values of students were enhanced, and the CBR programme was a “character builder” for them as rehabilitation professionals. The CBR workers who participated in the programme learnt to appreciate the potential of persons with disabilities and to accept their limitations. Another key result was the pledge by local leaders to sustain CBR in their own villages.

Conclusions: The students and alumni reported that the CBR programme should be replicated for nation-building. The different stakeholders reported that it helped improve the quality of life of people with disabilities and contributed to community development.

Purpose: Respite care is generally thought to benefit family carers of persons with intellectual disabilities and is regarded as an important component of family-centred services. However, the complexities associated with the provision of such services, from the carer’s perspective, have been rarely investigated.

Method: This qualitative research study was carried out through a participatory action research process that involved collaboration among researchers and family members as co-researchers. Seven focus groups, involving seventy family carers (fifty mothers, fifteen fathers and five sisters), were held in seven locations across the Republic of Ireland.

Results: Three main themes dominated the discussions. The first theme related to the ambivalence of carers towards using respite services, as expressed in their reluctance to relinquish care-giving for even a short period; the feelings of guilt they experienced; and the greater needs of other carers. The second theme related to the benefits of respite breaks, but these were solely with respect to the carer and other family members, rather than to the person with an intellectual disability. The third theme regarding the quality of provision was dominated by concerns for the care the person received in using the services.

Conclusions: Respite care has the potential to make a difference, and these findings call for building much- needed alliances between all members of the family and professionals. This is in order to support one another through the difficulties associated with the redesign of existing respite provision, and the extension of these services to the growing number of carers who require respite breaks.

This toolkit aims for civil society organizations (CSOs) to continue advocating for a more enabling environment for their work, capitalizing on the global momentum to improve their effectiveness as development actors. "This toolkit encourages advocacy among and between CSOs and towards external stakeholders. The toolkit is divided into three sections. Section 1 is an overview summarising the main points and key steps in advocating for a more enabling environment for CSOs. Section 2 provides essential information and documents on CSO development effectiveness and enabling environment. Section 3 provides step-by-step guidance and tools on activities and logistics to assist CSOs develop, implement, monitor and evaluate their advocacy for an enabling environment. A variety of advocacy tools are included throughout the toolkit and templates are available in the annexes. Each section also includes practical tips, case studies and quotes representing Open Forum members’ voices"

This toolkit suggests strategies and tools to improve disaster recovery and reconstruction practices for disabled people. It is structured around the following seven major thematic areas related to disability inclusive recovery and reconstruction: physical environment; livelihood, employment and social protection; transportation and communication; education; health; capacity building of disabled people's organisations (DPOs); and organisational and operational issues. This toolkit is useful for humanitarian agencies and NGOs in disasters situations

This report makes clear the need for urgent action to address the growing crisis of drug resistance. While there is no simple solution, there are achievable steps,that the health community, governments, donors, and the pharmaceutical industry can take to slow the spread of drug resistance. It says that retaining the medicines available now, developing new ones and other technology, and ensuring these resources continue to save lives in future generations must become a priority for global and national health organisations, both public and private

"Rights in Action" is a multi-stakeholder initiative using the Making it Work methodology to promote practical, evidence based recommendations on how to achieve inclusive local governance in seven West African countries. This summary report presents the key findings and recommendations from the initiative. This report would be of interest to people working with disability rights and local inclusive governance in West Africa

This article examines medicines price competition that ensued in a rural village in Kyrgyzstan after the opening of a small network of non-profit pharmacies created and managed by an NGO. While the rural pharmacies were created to increase access to medicines in villages where no pharmacies existed, the project had unexpected, substantial spillover effects, spurring medicines price reductions in pharmacies quite far away