South East Asia & Pacific
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© CBM
Education of person with visual impairment, Philippines
CBM's South East Asia Pacific Regional Office, working out of Manila, aims to centrally support programmes in key countries in the region
South East Asia & Pacific Regional Office
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©CBM
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Rainer Guetler
Location: Manila, Philippines
Regional Director Rainer Guetler
Email:
CBM's South East Asia & Pacific Regional Office (SEAPRO) currently supports 52 partner organizations in the region. CBM SEAPRO works in the Philippines (31), Indonesia (8), Papua New Guinea (11) and East Timor (2).
Up to 2012, CBM SEAPRO also used to work in Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and Malaysia. Next to the provision of financial support, CBM SEAPRO is actively engaged in providing technical support both to their partner organizations as well as its own offices. SEAPRO works with local staff and international experts who have backgrounds in Management, Ophthalmology, Low Vision, Ear care, Community Mental Health, Livelihood development, Special Education and Disability Inclusive Development and Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR).
Since its establishment CBM SEAPRO developed partnerships with key organisations in different countries of the region. In the Philippines nearly all of CBM mandate areas of work are being addressed with a strong focus on community work.
Partnerships in East Timor are focusing on CBR and rehabilitation work as well as community mental health. Partnerships in Indonesia are strongly focused on ophthalmology. Work in the area of CBR and community mental health is also further being strengthened. In Papua New Guinea CBM runs an eye clinic and otherwise focuses on CBR managed through a network of Special Education Resource Centres (SERCs).
In all countries CBM is a major player in disability work and actively develops networks and alliances to further strengthen disability work.
In all countries CBM is a major player in disability work and actively develops networks and alliances to further strengthen disability work.
Key programmes
There are several key programmes in the region.
In the Philippines with Resources for the Blind (RBI) in Metro Manila, CBM supports the main resource for education work for persons with visual impairments. Cataract Foundation has built up a nationwide network and works through 500 Filipino ophthalmologists who are volunteering in eye surgeries for the poor. Ear care services are provided by the same organization as well as by Better Hearing Philippines, another CBM partner. CBM has partnerships with several Disabled People Organizations (DPO’s) which are working in different areas of work like advocacy, livelihood and other areas of CBR. CBM’s CBR coordination office is actively promoting community approaches and advocates for rights based approaches to disability work in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
In Indonesia ophthalmology work is being supported in close collaboration with the ministry of health. Current focus is to promote disability inclusive practices in order to ensure that persons with other type of disabilities will also be able to access eye health services which are being provided by CBM’s partners and other key stakeholders. Community Mental Health work started in Indonesia in response to the Tsunami in 2004 and now has the potential to be further replicated in other areas of the country. New areas of work are currently being explored.
In Papua New Guinea, working through our key partner, Callan Services, CBM supports a nationwide network of Community-Based Rehabilitation Programmes in cooperation with Catholic dioceses in the country. Managed by a seconded ophthalmologist CBM provides eye medical services to people in need in the highlands from its base in Goroka. The clinic is also being used as a training venue for the training of local ophthalmologists who will be exposed to high volume eye surgeries.
In East Timor starting from supporting a centre which provides orthopaedic care, in recent years a CBR component was added and now a closer collaboration with the university on the development of a CBR curriculum has started. CBM’s other programme works in the area of Psychosocial rehabilitation and provides support to persons in need in close collaboration with local health authorities.
Priorities and the future
Further capacity development initiatives for CBM staff and its partners will be undertaken in order to increase responsiveness to new opportunities arising in the region.
In addition, SEAPRO seeks to expand its collaboration with alliances and networks, with a specific focus on promoting disability inclusive practices and in close cooperation with Disabled Peoples Organisations (DPOs).
As the countries in the region are very disaster prone due to its geographical location in the Asian Ring of Fire, another key priority is to strengthen inclusive disaster risk reduction and emergency response work in the region, especially in the Philippines and Indonesia. CBM SEAPRO is engaging in capacity building initiatives in order to strengthen this area of work. Another important component is to link up with specialized national as international organizations, including government agencies.
As the countries in the region are very disaster prone due to its geographical location in the Asian Ring of Fire, another key priority is to strengthen inclusive disaster risk reduction and emergency response work in the region, especially in the Philippines and Indonesia. CBM SEAPRO is engaging in capacity building initiatives in order to strengthen this area of work. Another important component is to link up with specialized national as international organizations, including government agencies.
Relevant links
- The UN promoting rights of persons with disabilities
- VISION 2020 a joint programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) that aims for the global elimination of avoidable blindness
