Stakeholders appraise Progress in the Current Phase of the Program
Hospital equipment comprising digital wheelchair scales, manual wheelchairs, auxiliary crutches, walkers, and otoscopes amongst others have been donated to five District Hospitals and the St. Joseph Children and Adults Home (SAJOCAH) Bafut in the Northwest region.
The Director of CBC Health Services Prof Tih Pius Muffih handed the equipment to Administrators of the hospitals in the presence of other stakeholders at the end of a one-day stakeholders meeting that took place at the Baptist Center Nkwen Bamenda on February 15, 2024.
The meeting was organized by the Comprehensive Program for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and Inclusive Access to Basic Services of Health and Education in the Northwest Region of Cameroon.
Speaking during the handing over, the Director of Health Services (DHS), Prof. Tih Pius Muffih extended gratitude to CBM for the support that has enabled the program to provide some equipment to the hospitals. He said the equipment are intended to support and improve service delivery for vulnerable people especially those with disabilities. He revealed that efforts have been made in demonstrating good practices on access in the area of remolding of Out Patient Departments and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities.
The meeting, which was chaired by the Director of CBC Health Services, Prof. Tih Puis Muffi brought together stakeholders from the Health, Education, Livelihood, and Social Inclusion domains of the program. According to the Director, the objective of the meeting was to provide an understanding of the mandate of stakeholders as well as provide updates on the implementation of project activities highlighting the outputs, outcomes, and challenges. He thanked the stakeholders for their contributions to the program in promoting inclusion at different levels of society.
The high point of the meeting was the presentation of a progress report for 2022 to 2023 presented by the Program Manager, Awa Jacques Chirac. The Manager said for this period of implementation, the program has recorded the following results; Health and Rehabilitation 106%, Inclusive Education 74%, and Economic Empowerment and Social Inclusion 89%.
Under the Health Component, the Program Manager noted that the program has built the capacity of 15 District Medical Officers, Directors of District Hospitals, and Municipal authorities on inclusive healthcare and financed accessibility assessment and remodeling in five District Hospitals and SAJOCAH amongst others. As a result of these actions, there has been improved access to the built environment, increased acceptance by healthcare providers, and provision of healthcare with principles of universal design which have improved access to healthcare for 171,182 persons with disabilities with an 86% increase compared to 2020-2021. In addition, 2400 children received neonatal ear screening and 62 were referred for follow-up.
Mr. Awa underlined that under the Education component, the Program trained 82 examiners and education authorities, equipped 2 special exam centers, carried out an annual review of exam sessions and revision and adoption of good practices in inclusion, and conducted an assessment of the entire exam circle and proposed recommendations for inclusion. With these efforts, there is an improved access and participation of learners with disabilities in GCE Exams with 55 of them who wrote the GCE in 2021 with a 46.67% passing and 70 who wrote in 2023 with a percentage passed of 76%. In addition, there has been the revision of exam guidelines including the use of scribes, additional time (30min/1hr), and revision of exam registration forms to inform the provision of reasonable accommodation measures.
In the Livelihood and Social Inclusion domain, the program has lobbied, advocated, advised, and technically supported Councils, the Regional Assembly, and two technical structures to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities and socio-economic opportunities. Also, the program provided fee and material support to 50 youths with disabilities to access Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) programs.
Mr. Awa also highlighted that Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) have been formalized with decentralized local authorities 12 Councils, the United Cities and Councils of Cameroon (UCCC), and the National School of Local Administration (NASLA), and the introduction of a module on inclusive development in NASLA’s curriculum.
Despite the results recorded, the Program Manager expressed some challenges faced some of which are that the adoption of universal design practices in municipal development is still below expectation, new projects are conceived and implemented without accessibility and awareness of the 2010 law on the promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities remains low among duty bearers, thereby restricting the benefits and participation of persons with disabilities in health and education amongst others.
At the end of his presentation, stakeholders applauded the project for the results recorded so. Prof. Tih moderated a session during which participants made salient recommendations that would go a long way to improve the current phase of the program as well as ameliorate the lives of persons with disabilities.
This program is implemented with support from CBM.
