Fostering an Inclusive Environment for the Disabled (FIELD)

Mercy Corps
www.mercycorps.org.mn

Design of an Advocacy Campaign and Formation of Advocacy Task Force

During the previous months' stakeholder meetings, it was agreed with Disabled People's Organizations (DPOs) that future advocacy under the FIELD project should target construction and public transportation issues. Following this decision, in March Mercy Corps organized further meetings with DPOs as a result of which, the membership of an Advocacy Task Force was appointed. The Task Force will provide strategic direction to advocacy campaigns and will coordinate the allocation of roles and responsibilities among concerned DPOs. The decision on Task Force membership was publicized to DPOs, relevant ministries and other stakeholders.

A workshop was also organized during the month for DPOs to discuss primary concerns within the broader area of construction and public transportation. Fifteen people from 13 DPOs attended the meeting, following which an action plan was drafted that includes topics for public education and legal issues related to advocacy. National DPOs lack a sufficiently detailed and technical knowledge of the law to advocate directly to ministries, so a follow-up meeting is now scheduled for April 08 that will bring DPOs together with Government officials to study the law in more detail together and agree on priorities for action.

Conduct Capacity Assessment in Arkhangai, Dundgobi & Uvurkhangai Aimags

During March, Mercy Corps developed a questionnaire for assessing the capacities of local DPOs and conducted an assessment in Uvurkhangai Aimag. Fifteen people from five DPOs participated in the assessment, which was conducted in a supportive and participatory fashion. Further data must be collected before final conclusions can be drawn, but initial impressions suggest that all DPOs are relatively weak and in the early stages of organizational development. Most of the DPOs have no public information capacity, and many lack permanent office space and furniture or equipment.

Needs assessment and planning in Arkhangai, Dundgobi and Uvurkhangai Aimags

Mercy Corps completed a needs assessment of People with Disabilities (PWDs) in the project's three target aimags in March. A total of 91 people participated in the assessment, which concluded that priority needs among PWDs are:

• A very high proportion of children with disabilities were found not to be receiving formal education in all aimags. As a result, PWDs in each aimag were relatively poorly educated and so suffer higher rates of poverty and unemployment than the provincial averages.
• Hospitals, clinics and the aimag Social Welfare Departments are very bureaucratic, making public healthcare and related services difficult to access.
• Very few public buildings can be accessed by people with wheelchairs.
• PWDs generally felt that they lacked sufficient knowledge of laws pertaining to disabilities.
• The flow of information to PWDs was found to be weak, a situation exacerbated by the relative weakness of local DPOs.
• Many PWDs also stated that income generation is a problem as suitable employment is hard to find and (due to their relatively high likelihood of living in poverty) most are unable to get local bank loans due to a lack of collateral.

Future events

• Complete  the advocacy campaign design with the newly formed Task Force;
• Study the  legal environment for PWDs;
• Complete the DPO capacity assessment;
• Develop a capacity-building plan for DPOs based on the above assessment; and
• Start the advocacy work.