Full page photo print - Harvard Law School Project on Disability
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Un Agencies and community based Rehabilitati<strong>on</strong><br />
In 1994 the Internati<strong>on</strong>al Labour Organizati<strong>on</strong> (ILO), United Nati<strong>on</strong>s Educati<strong>on</strong>al Scientific<br />
and Cultural Organizati<strong>on</strong> (UNESCO) and World Health Organizati<strong>on</strong> (WHO) produced a<br />
“Joint Positi<strong>on</strong> Paper <strong>on</strong> Community Based Rehabilitati<strong>on</strong>” in order to promote a comm<strong>on</strong><br />
approach to the development of community based rehabilitati<strong>on</strong> (CBR) programs. The<br />
paper states:<br />
CBR is a strategy within general community development for the<br />
rehabilitati<strong>on</strong>, equalizati<strong>on</strong> of opportunities and social inclusi<strong>on</strong> of all people<br />
with disabilities.<br />
CBR is implemented through the combined efforts of people with disabilities<br />
themselves, their families, organizati<strong>on</strong>s and communities, and the relevant<br />
governmental and n<strong>on</strong>-gov ernmental health, educati<strong>on</strong>, vocati<strong>on</strong>al, social<br />
and other services.<br />
The major objectives of CBR are:<br />
1. To ensure that people with disabilities are able to maximize their physical<br />
and mental abilities, to access regular services and opportunities,<br />
and to become active c<strong>on</strong>tributors to the community and society at large.<br />
2. To activate communities to promote and protect the human rights of people<br />
with disabilities through changes within the community, for example, by removing<br />
barriers to participati<strong>on</strong>.”<br />
The ILO/UNESCO/WHO approach clearly recognizes that pers<strong>on</strong>s with disabilities are<br />
entitled to rehabilitati<strong>on</strong>, but also that the communities themselves require training,<br />
assistance, and resources to reach their own goals of including all of their members and<br />
benefiting from the c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong>s that pers<strong>on</strong>s with disabilities can make. 13<br />
hAbiliTATi<strong>on</strong> And RehAbiliTATi<strong>on</strong> foR PeRs<strong>on</strong>s wiTh<br />
inTellecTUAl disAbiliTies And Psycho-sociAl disAbiliTies<br />
Pers<strong>on</strong>s with intellectual or psycho-social disabilities are particularly vulnerable to human<br />
rights violati<strong>on</strong>s committed in the name of “rehabilitati<strong>on</strong>.” The objective of habilitati<strong>on</strong> and<br />
rehabilitati<strong>on</strong> under the CRPD is to “enable pers<strong>on</strong>s with disabilities to attain and maintain<br />
maximum independence, full physical, mental, social and vocati<strong>on</strong>al ability, and full inclusi<strong>on</strong><br />
and participati<strong>on</strong> in all aspects of life.” These efforts must always be based <strong>on</strong> the goals and<br />
preferences expressed by the pers<strong>on</strong> who is receiving the rehabilitati<strong>on</strong> service.<br />
Pers<strong>on</strong>s with intellectual or psycho-social disabilities are often subjected to programs and<br />
therapies intended not to help them achieve what they want, but rather to change them in a<br />
way that the pers<strong>on</strong> may not wish to be changed. It would be unthinkable to force a pers<strong>on</strong><br />
without an arm to wear an unwanted prosthetic limb or to insist that a blind pers<strong>on</strong> who<br />
13 See http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/skills/download/jointpaper.pdf<br />
136 hUmAn RighTs. yes! AcTi<strong>on</strong> And AdvocAcy <strong>on</strong> The RighTs of PeRs<strong>on</strong>s wiTh disAbiliTies