La lettre mensuelle

HI’S FEDERAL NETWORK IN-HOUSE NEWSLETTER

N° 227 - April 2018

 Photo of the month OFFERED BY THE PHOTO LIBRARY

© Jean-Jacques Bernard / HI
India, April 2009. Photo by Jean-Jacques Bernard, published as a tribute to our former colleague who died
on 13 March. Discover some of his best photos
Laethicia Lamotte – llamotte@handicap-international.org

Editorial Figure
TO JEAN-JACQUES
The Sidcom would like to join those paying tribute to Jean-Jacques Bernard,
€150,000
The fundraising target
who died on 13 March aged 51 years old. From 2004 to 2010, Jean-Jacques
for the 2018 Sport
was responsible for corporate partnerships at Handicap International before
Ensemble (sport
becoming a very talented professional photographer. He produced a number
together) event, a
of high-quality photo reports for the organisation, notably in Senegal, Mali,
sponsored race which
Mozambique, Libya and France where he regularly covered the Shoe Pyramid events.
will be held by HI
We will always remember Jean-Jacques as an extremely personable colleague, with high
France in three cities
professional standards, and a great sense of humour which was resolutely tongue-in-cheek.
in May and June
Our thoughts and best wishes go to his family and friends.
The Sidcom team

1 La lettre mensuelle 227  April 2018

Backstage
NEWS FROM HEAD OFFICES
LUXEMBOURG:
A NEW ARRIVAL IN THE
MARKETING DIVISION
Pauline Pierrot,
21 years old, is a
third-year student
studying for a
bachelor’s degree
in Public Relations at the
Haute École Albert Jacquard, in
Namur, Belgium. After spend-
ing five months in Canada
with the Erasmus programme,
she joined HI Luxembourg on
12 February for a four-month
internship in direct marketing.
Pauline’s ambition is to set up
a voluntourism firm and write a
blog on the subject to combine
her interest in travel with her
enthusiasm for humanitarian
work and photography. Highly
motivated, HI offers an excellent
first opportunity for her to dis-
cover the aid and development
sector. We wish her a very
warm welcome!
Pauline Pierrot – p.pierrot@hi.org
Front of house FEDERAL NETWORK NEWS
National associations
GERMANY: NEW GOVERNMENT
Six months after the election in Germany, the new government
under Chancellor Angela Merkel was sworn in on 14 March. The
Federal Foreign Office, responsible for German humanitarian
aid, received a new Minister with Heiko Maas (SPD, on the pic-
ture opposite) replacing Sigmar Gabriel (SPD). The Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) continues with
Gerd Müller (CSU) as its Minister. HI Germany does not expect a
massive change in Germany’s international assistance strategies. Given the delay in
forming a government, though, the federal budget is not expected to be approved
before July 2018 meaning a delay in the approval of new projects.
Eileen Schuldt – e.schuldt@hi.org
GERMANY: PHOTO REPORT
Once again German photographer and jour-
nalist Till Mayer visited an HI program in a
situation of severe crisis. In South Sudan
he met people who are carrying physical
and psychological wounds from the war.
Focus of his media reports will be the HI
project on mental health, but some photos
and testimonies will also be used for a new
exhibition on EWIPA to be produced by HI
Germany in 2018. See some pictures
Eva Maria Fischer – e.fischer@hi.org
CANADA: MORE INCLUSIVE ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
From 11 March to 1 April HI Canada pre-
sented the exhibition “Drought makes
us equal” by the photographer Adrienne
Surprenant, in partnership with the MDD. At
the opening of this exhibition which exam-
ines the issue of drought in Somaliland, we
organised a fringe conference on the impact
of climate change on vulnerable populations.
The event was facilitated by Julien Fouilland
and Annie Lafrenière, HI Technical Advisors. They were ably assisted by L’Œuvre
Léger and Mathieu Simard, PhD student at McGill University.
Gabriel Perriau – g.perriau@hi.org
UNITED STATES: NEWS OUTLETS COVER DC METRO AD DENIAL
In January, Washington, DC’s Metro board told us that
our ads could not run on their network because the
ads were attempting “to influence the public regard-
ing an issue on which there are varying opinions are
prohibited,” and “to influence public policy.” In March,
after weeks of trying to get DC Metro to change its
mind, local news outlets picked up the story. Jeff Meer
spoke to the Washington Post and to Fox5 about the
viewpoint discrimination the Metro showed in denying
the ads of NGOs like HI, while agreeing to run ads
2 La lettre mensuelle 227  April 2018
from major weapons manufacturers and casinos. Metro has also denied ads from
Amnesty International.
This month’s events
Mica Bevington – m.bevington@hi.org
4 April International Mine
FRANCE: HI CIRCLE OF AMBASSADORS Awareness Day
On 2 March, a Charter of Commitment for the HI Circle 5 April Humanitarian work,
of Ambassadors was signed in Lyon. This is a network of sex and ethics: between
economic and society influencers co-opted to work on a exemplarity and fallibility (Paris,
pro bono basis for our organisation. Through their commit- France)
ment and energy, they form a precious circle of people with the expertise required
7 April World Health Day
to expand our influence and our regional
and national activities. Objective: 11 April HI’s 35th anniversary
improve awareness and the image of HI celebrations at Le Sucre (Lyon,
locally, create influencer networks and France)
promote our fundraising campaigns. 30 April World Day of
Photo of the first seven ambassadors Mobility and Accessibility
signing the charter of commitment
alongside Xavier du Crest (Director HI
France) and Manuel Patrouillard (MD of
the HI Federation).
Xavier du Crest – x.ducrest@hi.org

FRANCE: SPORT ENSEMBLE 2018 - READY, STEADY, GO!

A sponsored race bringing together runners with and with-
out disabilities, Sport Ensemble (sport together) promotes
the values of sport, tolerance and sharing. Several options
are open to participants: a 10 km race to push your limits,
a 5 km race to meet a challenge, and a 5 km walk to make
the most of the day! The Sport Ensemble Village will also
put on a range of disability sports: blind soccer, wheelchair
basketball, obstacle courses with prostheses etc. The funds
raised by participants will be used to finance our work in the
field. Sport Ensemble will be held in Nice on 19 May for the
first time, followed by Lyon on 9 June, then Paris on 16 June.
Save the date! Information and enrolment at sportensemble.org
Anaïs Lorenz – a.lorenz@hi.org

LUXEMBOURG: A NEW FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON DEVELOPMENT

EDUCATION
“Leave no-one behind - Towards a
society more inclusive of vulnerable
populations, including people with
disabilities.” This is the full title of our
new framework agreement signed on
26 February by Pierre Delandmeter, The Sidcom team
Chairperson of the HI Luxembourg Interfaces de La lettre mensuelle
BoT and Romain Schneider, Minister of Pascale Jérôme: field programmes
Cooperation and Humanitarian Action. Gilles Lordet: lean unit, strategy and
A budget of more than €600,000 was alliances
Aurore Van Vooren: Handicap
allocated by the Ministry of European
International Foundation
and Foreign Affairs (for a total budget
Frédéric Gruyer (LM coordination):
of almost €760,000) to raise the technical resources, national
awareness of, and mobilise, the population of Luxembourg - in particular young associations, FCD, human resources,
AIR, logistics/GS, IT service, finance,
people - around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) from the perspective of
federal network staff movements
caring for vulnerable people.
Thanks to Kim Barrett for translating
Claude Briade – c.briade@hi.org

3 La lettre mensuelle 227  April 2018

 Video of the month
 FROM HI OR ELSEWHERE
#BODYCANTWAIT, THE MOVIE
On 6 March, HI France, in part-
nership with the communica-
tions agency Herezie, fitted stat-
ues across Paris with fake pros-
theses. The aim of this symbolic,
ephemeral campaign entitled
#Bodycantwait was to raise the
general public’s awareness of
the needs for prostheses across
the world, and of how 3D print-
ing can be used for orthopaedic
fitting for patients in countries
in the global South. The event
received extensive media cover-
age, including overseas. See the
video with English subtitles
Yasmine Silem – y.silem@hi.org
LUXEMBOURG: TV INTERVIEW WITH MARTIN LAGNEAU
Martin Lagneau, Director of HI
Luxembourg answered ques-
tions from RTL TV on the situa-
tion in Syria. He raised the issue
of access to international aid,
“Ensuring humanitarian access,
means allowing the humanitar-
ian actors already in the field
and those who want to enter
the zone, to carry out their work
safely and allow the injured to
be evacuated; but this zone is completely closed off, and there is a total disregard
for the principles of humanitarian law.” Martin also spoke about the bombing and
the issue of Explosive Remnants of War which pose a permanent threat to the pop-
ulation. See the interview (Martin answers in French).
Camille Barbi – c.barbi@hi.org
UNITED KINGDOM: HI DEMINERS FEATURED ON PRIME TIME
At 9pm on Wednesday 7 March,
Lumngen, a section commander
for one of our demining teams
in Laos, was the focus of a 10
minute feature on BBC One, the
UK’s most popular TV channel.
The feature was part of an epi-
sode of a series called “Earth’s
Natural Wonders”. The episode
was called “Surviving against the
odds” and there has been a great
response from supporters who
watched the programme. Filming
in Laos took place over several days in June 2017 and one of the challenges was to
make a film to be broadcast after the rebrand but filmed seven months before. HI
UK would like to say a big Thank You to Lumngen and all the Laos team as well as
colleagues in the DCC who supported the filming. Watch part of the film
Marlene Sigonney – m.sigonney@hi.org
SWITZERLAND: THE NEW VIVRE DEBOUT
With the introduction of our new visual identity, we decided to
refresh our donor magazine. This new-look Vivre Debout is the
result of consultations with our donors, who gave their opinion via
a dedicated questionnaire. Same format, same number of pages,
only the content has changed with three sections: our work in the
world, a special report and testimonies. Download the PDF
Marie Bro – m.bro@hi.org
SWITZERLAND: THE WINTER PARALYMPICS
On the occasion of the Paralympic Winter Games in
Pyeongchang, we asked our athlete ambassadors and members
of HI Switzerland to speak about their experiences as sporting
champions on our social network channels. Silke Pan (photo),
hand-bike vice world champion and Céline van Till, who took part
in the Rio games, both agreed to take up the challenge.
Marie Bro – m.bro@hi.org
4 La lettre mensuelle 227  April 2018
 Stage left LIVE FROM THE FIELD
AFGHANISTAN: SPECIFIC NEED
ASSESSMENT
On 14 December, Specific Need
Assessment (SNA) was done by HI
MEAL Coordinator. The overall objective
of the SNA was to identify the specific
needs of Internal Displaced Persons
(IDPs), host communities & refugee
returnees from Pakistan in access to
humanitarian services. SNA was carried
out in Herat and Kandahar provinces.
No such survey has been carried out
in the country on specific needs. 1,344
households and individual were inter-
viewed, in which 736 IDPs, 202 host
families and 415 individual returnees
from Pakistan. Major drivers of dis-
placement of IDPs are armed conflict,
poverty, unemployment, insecurity in
the areas where the IDPs have fled
their origins. Since beginning of 2017
until 9 December, a total of 34,162
undocumented refugees returned from
Pakistan. Surveys will help us to better
take into account the needs of the pop-
ulation in our intervention strategy, and
to provide better arguments and infor-
mation in our proposals for fundraising
issues.
Mohammad Hashim Niazi
meal-coordinator@hiafgha.org
ALGERIA: INCLUSION
The NASIJE project “New development
initiatives for the socio-economic inclu-
sion of excluded young people” was
launched at the start of 2016 and there
are now 1,289 direct beneficiaries.
Recently, a training session on network
practices and campaigning techniques
was set up for managers of not-for-profit
organisations. The aim was to familiarise
participants with the principles, meth-
odology and benefits of working within
a network and to improve the impact of
their campaigns through effective part-
nerships. Forty civil society organisations
took part in this training course across
four wilayas (Annaba, Béchar, Oran
and Khenchela). These organisations
will share the lessons learned at future
events set up to share good practices
between actors (private sector, public
institutions, civil society, etc.).
Hugo Chéné – hchene@hi-maghreb.org
BOLIVIA: SOCIOECONOMIC
INSERTION PILOT PROJECT
In order to promote the implementation
of the new Law 977 on labour market
integration and economic assistance for
persons with disabilities in Bolivia, the
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare
has created a coordination space with
institutions that develop activities for
persons with disabilities in the field of
employment, including the HI Andean
Countries programme. One of the first
results is the integration of the job pro-
file into the virtual job search platform,
a pilot experience that will help identify
the job skills of people with disabilities.
Valérie Beauchemin – v.beauchemin@hi.org
BOLIVIA: NEW CLUBFOOT CLINIC IN
TRINIDAD
Beni is a remote region of the Bolivian
Amazon Basin which receives little sup-
port from international cooperation. The
opening of a clubfoot clinic at Trinidad’s
Maternal Infant Hospital with the sup-
port of HI and its partner Miraclefeet
therefore meets a critical need for chil-
dren who suffer from these conditions
and will now be able to access quality
care provided by trauma specialists
trained by Mexican experts on the
Ponseti method last month.
Valérie Beauchemin – v.beauchemin@hi.org
5 La lettre mensuelle 227  April 2018
Glossary
ACRONYMS
ADRA: Adventist Development and
Relief Agency
AFD: French Development Agency
BoT: Board of Trustees
CDRRMO: City Disaster Risk
Reduction Management Office
CS: Christian Social Union in Bavaria
DPO: Disabled People’s Organisations
DRR: Disaster Risk Reduction
EU: European Union
FSD: Swiss Foundation for Mine
Action
HI: Humanity & Inclusion / Handicap
International
HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus
IDRM: Inclusive Disaster Risk
Management
IFS: Internal Security Forces
MAG: Mines Advisory Group
MD: Managing Director
MDD: Sustainable Development
Centres
MEAL: Monitoring, Evaluation,
Accountability and Learning
PRODECO: social welfare, demining
and livelihoods
PSS: Personalised Social Support
RMS: Rehabilitation Management
System
SDG: Sustainable Development Goals
SECADEV: Secours Catholique et
Développement
SNA: Specific Need Assessment
SPD: Social Democratic Party in
Germany
TVET: Technical and Vocational
Education and Training
UNOCHA: United Nations Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs
USAID: United States Agency for
International Development
CAMBODIA: REHABILITATION
A refresher training on the services
provided in Kampong Cham Physical
Rehabilitation Centre (PRC) and the
referral pathway was g provided
to 23 persons active at community
level: Village Health Support Group,
Local Authorities and Referral Users.
The training aimed to improve their
knowledge and skills on the identifi-
cation and referral of persons needing
the services of the Cham Physical
Rehabilitation Centre. 96% of partici-
pants who participated in the training
improved their knowledge and skills.
Hiep Phan – rehab.mgr@hicambodia.org
ETHIOPIA: INCLUSION OF YOUTH
On 13 February, our Inclusive
Employment project conducted an
Inclusive Employers Award cere-
mony. Three private companies were
awarded “best inclusive employ-
ers of the year”: The Mosaic Hotel,
Passion Agro Furniture, and KootKeet.
The event was attended by 108
Government officials, DPO leaders,
employers and interns, human right
activists, and representatives from the
medias, ILO, NGOs and persons with
disabilities. The general objective this
award event was to enhance the vis-
ibility of companies who hire persons
with disabilities, towards customers
and local authorities. It was also the
occasion to pass on clear message
on the role youth with disabilities can
provide in the Ethiopian Society. The
event was broadcasted on national FM
radios.
Anteneh Darsema
monitoring@hi-ethiopia.org
ETHIOPIA: EMERGENCY
PROTECTION
Following Ethiopia Somali-Oromo eth-
nic border conflict, with more than 1.7
million persons displaced, HI launched
on 20 February an emergency Child
Protection (CP) and Gender Based
Violence (GBV) protection project
jointly with HelpAge International.
Key government actors and NGOs
operating in the region attended the
launching workshop. The project will
be implemented Oromia Regional
Government of East Hararghe Zone
administration of Babile and Kersa
districts and will respond to protection
issues of 11,000 internally displaced
persons and host communities. The
project will focus on general protec-
tion, child protection, GBV and main-
streaming of gender/disability in other
humanitarian actors working on CP/
GBV, also granted with UNOCHA
Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund scheme.
Tewodros Gossa – ochapm@hi-ethiopia.org
HAITI: IDRM
Ongoing support for Inclusive Disaster
Risk Management (IDRM) is being
provided with the participatory
assessments of three community
civil protection committees (CCPC) in
Bombardopolis, Baie de Henne and
Mole Saint-Nicolas. These workshops
were organised at the request of the
local town councils who had observed
failings within these committees. The
assessments were conducted by the
project team. After analysing the data
6 La lettre mensuelle 227  April 2018
collected, a report including an action
plan will be submitted to the relevant
authorities.
Benjamin Randrianarisoa
b.randrianarisoa@hi.org
HAITI: RMS
In February, RMS (Rehabilitation
Management Systems) were officially
launched in three regional hospitals
partnered by HI. Haiti is the twelfth
country in which HI has been work-
ing to put into place RMS. This tool
aims to promote quality standards for
physical rehabilitation and help service
providers to strategically manage their
services. Large numbers of our part-
ners are interested in testing the RMS,
to date three centres have been scored
and received an action plan.
Genèse Raymond Dimanche
gr.dimanche@hi.org
HAITI: SOCIO-ECONOMIC
INCLUSION
The socio-economic inclusion project
ran a training session on personalised
social support (PSS) from 27 February
to 2 March, targeting members of the
RANIPH (national network for the
inclusion of people with disabilities),
a partner in the project, in the Nord
department. Following this training
course, one male and three female
support staff were selected and jointly
approved by HI and RANIPH to pro-
vide personalised social support for
150 project beneficiaries with disa-
bilities in the Nord department (Cap
Haitien).
Fanor Gustave – f.gustave@hi.org
KENYA: INCLUSION & PROTECTION
In response to the drought in Northern
Kenya, HI is providing technical sup-
port in Inclusion and protection of
persons with disabilities to Bright
consortium partner ACTED in imple-
menting an unconditional cash transfer
program in Mandera and Samburu
Counties. The capacity building sup-
port will ensure the cash transfer
process is inclusive to persons with
disabilities, the elderly persons and the
marginalized persons in the targeted
communities. On 3-4 March, HI con-
ducted a two day capacity building
training on Inclusive Social Protection
approaches in Emergencies for ACTED
and partner agencies in Mandera.
Jeroen Stol – j.stol@hi.org
MADAGASCAR: PRISON
POPULATIONS
As the multi-country programme
“Touching Minds, Raising Dignity”
winds down and our “Quartiers d’ave-
nir: from detention to inclusion” project
closes, the focus has shifted to the
prison population. From 26 February
to 2 March, around fifty photos taken
by Robin Hammond in a prison in
Madagascar, representing the harsh
reality of prison life, were exhibited at
the Alliance Française in Antananarivo.
HI’s work to relieve and prevent psy-
chological distress in prison settings,
was praised at the official opening
of the exhibition by the General
Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice.
Ramanankilana Hary Cylia
ass-com@handicap-international-mada.org
MADAGASCAR: CLOWNS
WITHOUT BORDERS
Kevin, Alessandro and Jyoti from
Clowns Without Borders Belgium,
joined our inclusive education team in
Mahajanga and Antananarivo to bring
a smile to the faces of the children in
the schools we work with, the educa-
tion centres for children with disabili-
ties and even in the detention centres.
Using their book entitled “Learning
through laughter”, training for trainers
and shows, they shared learning strat-
egies based on three essential points:
children must move a lot, breathe, and
have their imaginations stimulated.
Even in our offices were ringing with
laughter thanks to their surprise shows
and musical instruments. Thanks to
Clowns Without Borders!
Ramanankilana Hary Cylia
ass-com@handicap-international-mada.org
MADAGASCAR: PLANNING
WORKSHOP
The programme has stepped up a gear
for the Anjaratsara project which aims
to improve access to health care for
people with epilepsy. Another huge
leap forward has been made with the
organisation of planning workshops
for setting up support activities for the
project’s direct beneficiaries. These
workshops aim to define the project’s
interventions in the community, and
the role and intervention methodol-
ogy of the civil society organisations
responsible for its implementation.
This process once again demon-
strates the close working relationship
7 La lettre mensuelle 227  April 2018
between our operational teams and
the programme’s technical unit.
Andriamahazosoa Joela
ctn-isap@handicap-international-mada.org
MYANMAR: ADVOCACY
Among its advocacy activities, HI
organized a training on photo sto-
ry-telling for the volunteers and ben-
eficiaries of the Victim Assistance
Centres (VAC) in South East Myanmar,
which HI supports with the Myanmar
Physically Handicapped Association.
The story of Su Su Moe, one of the
volunteers from Kawkareik, won the
first prize of the amateur section dur-
ing the Yangon Photo Festival. Her
photo story was screened in Yangon
city centre in front of hundreds of peo-
ple and many international stakehold-
ers. Su Su and HI team had the oppor-
tunity to speak in front of the audi-
ence, and to introduce their work and
the activities of the Victim Assistance
Centres.
Carla Vitantonio
cvitantonio@hi-myanmar.org
NEPAL: PINKATHON
HI Nepal’s female colleagues together
with over 2,000 women from Nepal
participated in the 2nd Kathmandu
Pinkathon in February 2018. The
Pinkathon is more than a race, a seed
of change, carried forward by a com-
munity of empowered women, with
the objective of spreading awareness
about women’s health related issues,
breast cancer in particular. Urban
women including young school girls
to retired professionals participated
in the event with great enthusiasm.
The key message of the event is to
encourage women to take care of their
health; respecting and understanding
the value women bring to the family
and society. Wearing white and pink
t-shirts with “I am a Pink Sister” writ-
ten, the participants raced to promote
a social cause.
Reena Shakya – rshakya@hi-nepal.org
NEPAL: COORDINATION
Under the organization’s inclusive live-
lihood initiative, HI Nepal organized
a district level coordination meeting
with the government stakeholders and
representatives from local levels for
enhancing access of people with dis-
abilities to inclusive employment. The
meeting was jointly organized with the
National Federation of Disabled Nepal,
a national cross disability umbrella
body of above 300 organizations. Post
sensitization and exchange of ideas,
the meeting was concluded with total
of 28 participant’s commitment for
high priority on income generation
activities for people with disabilities.
Since past 6 years, HI is working on
promotion of the decent employment
opportunities for people with disabil-
ities in Nepal with support from the
USAID.
Bishnu Kumar Bamma
bkbamma@hi-nepal.org
NEPAL: REHABILITATION
HI organized a learning workshop
of its health system strengthening
venture jointly with Leprosy Control
Division, the government counterpart.
The presenters highlighted the need
of rehabilitation services to ensure
independent life for people with
chronic diseases, disabilities, injury
and functional limitations. HI’s services
provided through its physiotherapy
and rehabilitation units at district hos-
pitals in 6 most earthquake affected
districts with support from the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, Luxembourg was
acknowledged. As the Nepal Health
Sector Strategy Plan, 2016-2021 has
incorporated rehabilitation service in
a basic health package, the service
providers were requested to support
for expanding rehabilitation services
throughout the country.
Prajwol Shrestha – pshrestha@hi-nepal.org
PHILIPPINES: INCLUSIVE
EMERGENCY DRILL
30 members of the Roxas City DRR
Management Council were trained
on inclusive drill facilitation last 23
February 2018 facilitated by HI iRe-
store DRR Team. Key learning include:
the need to update contingency plan
and have a more organized early
warning system and evacuation flow
from the barangay to the city level,
identification of specific functions per
thematic for relevant agencies, and
developing a simulation script for an
inclusive drill. In April, the CDRRMO
will have an opportunity to observe
first how to facilitate an inclusive drill
and then to actually facilitate the drill
for the 4 iRestore communities in
Roxas City, Capiz.
Menchie Lacson – pm_livelihood_panay
@handicapinternational.ph
PHILIPPINES: INCLUSIVE DRR IN
SCHOOLS
8 La lettre mensuelle 227  April 2018
Last February, a ToT for Adventist
Development and Relief Agency
(ADRA) staff was conducted by HI’s
DRR and inclusion advisers. Training’s
key objective was to equip ADRA with
technical and facilitation skills on how
to conduct inclusive child-centred
DRR training. The ToT was followed
by a training for teachers on inclusive
child-centred DRR, co-facilitated by
ADRA and HI and was participated
by around 50 teachers from 5 public
schools. The 2 trainings were organ-
ized within the BATANG READY
(Children Ready) Project funded by
Aktion Deutschland Hilft. HI will also
support ADRA in enhancement of
the BERT Module (disaster prepared-
ness in schools) of the Department of
Education to make it more inclusive of
children with disabilities.
Carissa Galla
drr_advisor@handicapinternational.ph
PHILIPPINES: INCLUSIVE TVET
AND JOB FAIR
HI participated in the nationwide
enrolment & job fair conducted by
the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA) in
partnership with Capiz TESDA Schools
Association last 27–28 February 2018
held at Robinson’s Place, Capiz where
HI had the opportunity to advocate for
the inclusion of persons with disabil-
ities to TVET education and employ-
ment. It was also a venue for some
of iRestore trainees to experience for
the first time an actual job interview.
Those who have completed skills train-
ing, 514 to-date, were also invited to
participate in the job fair. Out of the 56
job seekers hired on the spot, 13 were
HI beneficiaries.
Menchie Lacson – pm_livelihood_panay@
handicapinternational.ph
RWANDA: OPEN DAYS
Three open days were held on 14-16
February in the Rutsiro district. HI
communicated on its new brand and
its projects to 657 people. 46 other
people, mostly with disabilities, were
able to benefit from a consultation
with the multi-disciplinary team from
the Murunda hospital. 849 people con-
sulted the teams from two health cen-
tres specialised in HIV, non-commu-
nicable diseases and family planning.
At a similar event in Kicukiro held on
22-26 February, 150 members of the
general public were informed about
access to full rehabilitation services.
Gallican Mugabonake
coordo-di@hi-rwanda.org
RWANDA: EMERGENCY CARE
From 22 November to 22 December
2017, a continuous training on Basic-
Emergency Obstetrical and Neonatal
Care was carried out for 33 nurses
from Murunda District Hospital and
17 Health Centres in Rutsiro district.
As responsible for mother and child
health services in their health services,
all participants covered the national
training package for 16 working days
delivered in 6 sessions of 2 days and
4 days each in residential setting and
mentorship respectively. This model
promotes services availability, accessi-
bility, acceptability and quality.
Gallican Mugabonake
coordo-di@hi-rwanda.org
THAILAND: CHILDREN’S DAY
Learning through playing is a central
part of HI’s Growing Together project,
and to advocate for its importance in
children’s life, for the first time in coop-
eration with other NGOs, HI celebrated
the Children’s Day in three temporary
shelters along the Thai-Myanmar bor-
der. HI took the opportunity to intro-
duce to a wider audience, project’s
activities and promote access to these
services. Besides, fun activities such
as drawing, painting, quiz and games
were organized for 1,368 children with
and without disabilities, advocating for
the importance of inclusion from an
early stage.
Woranuch Lalittakhom
bbpgtpm@thailand-hi.org
TOGO: MENTAL HEALTH
The 2018-2021 phase of the mental
health project aims to develop interna-
9 La lettre mensuelle 227  April 2018
tional advocacy around the social par-
ticipation of people with mental health
problems in four countries, including
Togo. On 25 January, a delegation
from the AFD (our main donor) con-
ducted an exchange visit to the Paul
Louis-Renée mental health centre in
Lomé. One of the project partners they
met with was AVL (Association Vie
Libérée), which provides general and
psychological support for centre users.
Aude Bausson – abausson@hi.me.org
TOGO: PRISON
The activities deployed under phase
II of the project “Quartiers d’ave-
nir – Prison” were launched with a
visit to the civil prison of Lomé on 3
March. Overseen by the penitentiary
administration department, HI and its
partners ANASAP (the national san-
itation agency) and the NGO Village
Renaissance have produced a situ-
ation update of prison infrastructure
and “cabanon” (prison medical units)
requiring renovation. At a cost of
around 330,000 Euros, this emergency
work, funded by the European Union
as part of its programme to support
the justice sector, will help improve
prison conditions in Togo.
Philippe Alolé Amouzou
cdpqa@handicap-international-togo.org
 Stage right TECHNICAL RESOURCES

LAUNCH OF THE PRODECO PROJECT IN CHAD

35 years after the civil war and the Libyan invasion, the
contamination of the land and roads in the north of Chad
continues to pose a threat to the population and to hinder
socio-economic development. As the lead in a consortium
with MAG, SECADEV and the FSD, HI works in the north
of the country and in N’Djamena, deploying an integrated
approach combining demining, social welfare, and inclu-
sive livelihoods (the PRODECO project). The central focus
of this approach are local committees supported by HI to
implement productive social protection systems, develop
economic activities and secure the land. The PRODECO
projects in figures: 74,200 people benefiting from social
services; 177 people from governmental structures and
ISF trained; 3 million square metres of land released in
Borkou, Ennedi Ouest, Tibesti and the Lake Chad region.
Clément Meynier – c.meynier@hi.org

10 La lettre mensuelle 227  April 2018