Working with partners
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© CBM
Rinchin writing Braille, assisted by a teacher in the Resource Centre for Integrated Education, Khaling, Bhutan
CBM works together with partner organisations with the common objective to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities in developing countries.
The enablement of partners to gradually become independent of international assistance is one of the working principles of CBM.
Types of partner
CBM cooperates with various kinds of partners:
- At the local level: Implementing partners—whether faith-based groups, local government or non-governmental organisations—that deliver services and advocate for the inclusion of persons with disabilities.
- At the national level: Planning partners—health and other departments of government ministries and Disabled Persons’ Organisations.
- At the international level: Policy partners—United Nations agencies, international non-governmental development organisations, universities and similar institutions, and the commercial/industrial sector.
Disabled Peoples' Organisations
DPOs have core competencies to:
Governmental partners have primary competency for policy development and national/ local planning. Advocating for inclusive development with Governments is an intrinsic component in each country strategy. Government involvement encourages integration and sustainability.
In some particular situations CBM itself may need to act as the implementing organisation until a suitable partner is identified and enabled to take over this responsibility. This should only happen with the intention of future identification and capacity development of partner organisations.
- Advocate for the rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- Mobilise acceptance of disability as a development and human rights issue.
- Design needs-based programs and services based on persons with disabilities-members’ own experience.
- Act as technical resource in development.
- Assess appropriateness of policies, programs and services to persons with Disabilitie.
- Make development accessible and appropriate for all.
Governmental partners have primary competency for policy development and national/ local planning. Advocating for inclusive development with Governments is an intrinsic component in each country strategy. Government involvement encourages integration and sustainability.
In some particular situations CBM itself may need to act as the implementing organisation until a suitable partner is identified and enabled to take over this responsibility. This should only happen with the intention of future identification and capacity development of partner organisations.
Strategic partnerships
A strategic partner serves as a single entry point for CBM to organise and manage a comprehensive disability programme, or specific vertical initiative, often through a network of smaller partner projects.
Regional Offices are able to identify strategic partners and cluster suitable projects with a strategic partner.
CBM has Quality Standards for Partner Assessment that apply to all partner organisations. The quality criteria contain universal as well as activity specific criteria. This tool is being used for implementation in the regional/country context.
Partner networks
Each Regional Office supports Partners in several countries in their area of work and creates networks between the different Partner Organisations, Governments, Disabled Peoples’ Organisations (DPOs), and other Non-Governmental Organisations. Networking with these organisations allows us to share expertise and learn from each other.
The dialogue between these experienced networks allows for advocacy by like-minded organisations all speaking with one voice to the government and international donors.Globally, CBM responds to a challenge. CBM´s interventions have to be of such nature that they positively impact quality of life of persons with disabilities and also reduce the risk of disability.
This challenges us to embrace a holistic way of working, joining forces, and creating synergies with partners in order to work efficiently, but comprehensively to create access to quality services and inclusion in development processes for persons with disabilities in the areas where we work.
CBM aims at creating access to quality services in the most under-served areas of the world. Together with its Partner organisations, CBM reaches over 20 million persons annually, for example performing over 600,000 sight-restoring cataract operations and assisting more than 120,000 children through treatment for club foot, eye conditions, provision of hearing aids and inclusive or special education to provide for a future of equal opportunities.
International Cooperation
CBM works in cooperation with United Nations (UN) agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), NGOs, Disabled Peoples’ Organisations (DPOs) and persons with disabilities to develop networks and programmes that include persons with disabilities.
CBM, the WHO and the International Agency for the Preven-tion of Blindness (IAPB) were founding members of “VISION 2020: the Right to Sight,” a programme to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020. CBM also supports “WWHearing”, an international initiative for the provision of affordable hearing aids in low income countries.
