South East Asia & Pacific
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© CBM
Simon of Cyrene CBR Project, 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 centrally manages support to some 65 projects in the region. Key countries are the Philippines (37 projects), Indonesia (11), Papua New Guinea (11) and East Timor (2).
Other programme countries include Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and Malaysia. Future support will focus on the key countries in line with CBM’s global programme strategy. In addition to financial support delivered to our partners, presently there are 10 international experts seconded to the region in order to increase capacity of our local Partners.
These experts have backgrounds in Management, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedic surgery, Psychiatry, Livelihood development, Education and Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR).
SEAPRO has in the past developed partnerships with key organisations in the different countries of the region. Whereas in the Philippines and in Papua New Guinea, there exist a balanced portfolio of Projects/Partners which address nearly all of CBM’s mandates, in Indonesia presently there is a focus on support of health care work (ophthalmology, psychosocial health).
In all countries CBM is a major player in disability work in general and has developed networks and alliances to develop disability work further.
Key programmes
There are several key programmes in the region.
- In the Philippines with Resources for the Blind (RBI) in Manila we support the main resource for education work for the visually impaired. RBI is not only a resource nationally but has reached out to neighbouring countries with its work. Cataract Foundation has built up a nationwide network and works through 500 Filipino ophthalmologists who are volunteering in eye surgeries for the poor.
- Also in the Philippines, this regional office supports different organisations of disabled people (DPOs) who implement advocacy and service delivery programmes for their and their peers’ needs. The CBR coordination office and the regional office are working actively in promoting community approaches and advocate for rights based approaches for disability work in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD).
- In Papua New Guinea, working through our strategic partner, Callan Services, we support a nationwide network of Community-Based Rehabilitation Programmes in cooperation with Catholic dioceses in the country.
- In Indonesia the work in community mental health started after the Tsunami in December 2004 and now has the potential to be replicated in other areas/countries.
Priorities and the future
The South East Asia & Pacific office's work will continue to focus on a rights-based approach to disability and inclusive development, in line with the UN Convention (UN CRPD). The office will concentrate efforts on working with strategic partners who have the capacity to implement meaningful and efficient development programmes.
In areas where such strategic partners are not yet available we will further develop and built capacity with existing partners and try to identify new ones. Our strategy will follow the twin-track approach of delivery of empowering services and advocacy for the rights of persons with disabilities in order to change attitudes in the societies we work in.
Other priorities include efficient management of people and resources in the region, planning of our work through Project Cycle Management (PCM) methodologies and increasing our resources though access to more designated funding sources.
Owing to the region’s location on the Asian Ring of Fire (volcanos and earthquakes) and through exposure to other major natural disasters (tropical cyclones, typhoons), the office has engaged in building capacity and making the necessary preparation for disaster preparedness and response programmes.
Relevant links
- The UN promoting rights of persons with disabilities
- VISION 2020 a joint programme of the World Health Organizati on (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) that aims for the global elimination of avoidable blindness
