2nd Community-based Rehabiliation Continental Congress

On 3-5 March, the 2nd Community-based Rehabiliation (CBR) Continental Congress was held in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Congress was jointly organized by the Pan American Health Organization, WHO, UNICEF, the Community-based Rehabilitation Network of the Americas and the Caribbean, the National Agency for Family Development (DIF), Consejo Nacional para las Personas con Discapacidad (CONADIS), Piña Palmera, CBM and the Oaxaca local government. More than 550 participants from 17 Latin American countries took part in the Congress including many people with disabilities and their organizations. Participants developed the "Oaxaca Manifesto" which calls upon States to include people with disabilities in the development of their communities and societies by implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and promoting the use of CBR in public policies. The next Congress will take place in 2013 in Bogota, Colombia. The CBR America and Caribbean Network, formed following the last CBR Congress, will work towards implementation of the Oaxaca Manifesto in the coming years

 Community-based rehabilitation (CBR)

CBR focuses on enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities and their families, meeting basic needs and ensuring inclusion and participation. CBR is a multi-sectoral approach and has 5 major components: health, education, livelihood, social and empowerment. CBR was developed in the 1980s, to give people with disabilities access to rehabilitation in their own communities using predominantly local resources. A 2004 joint ILO, UNESCO and WHO paper repositioned CBR as a strategy for rehabilitation, equalization of opportunity, poverty reduction and social inclusion of people with disabilities.

The goals of CBR are to ensure the benefits of the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities reach the majority by:

• supporting people with disabilities to maximize their physical and mental abilities, to access regular services and opportunities, and to become active contributors to the community and society at large;
• activating communities to promote and protect the human rights of people with disabilities for example by removing barriers to participation;
• facilitating capacity building, empowerment and community mobilization of people with disabilities and their families.

CBR is implemented in more than 90 countries through the combined efforts of people with disabilities, their families, communities, and relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations working in disability and development. Involvement and participation of people with disabilities and their families is at the heart of CBR.

http://www.who.int/disabilities/cbr/en/