About Us
Motto
“NOTHING WITHOUT US.”
Vision
“Seeking for an inclusive society in the socio-economic and political life for all”
Mission
“Work with persons with disabilities and other stakeholders to create an enabling and inclusive society for all.”
About CUAPWD
CUAPWD has adopted Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) (WHO, 2010) as a holistic approach for the achievement of its goals and objectives. We are working to promote disability as a cross-cutting issue with activities targeting all ages, gender, race, etc. with a zero tolerance to discrimination of any form.
In line with our goal which is “Work to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities” and our vision which is “Building disability inclusive communities where the rights and dignities of persons with disabilities are respected”, since the creation of the CUAPWD we have successfully achieved progress in our works of advocacy and inclusion of persons with disabilities into development initiatives at the community and national level.
Founded in 2005 with 11 Organizations of Persons with Disabilities and officially registered in 2007, the Coordinating Unit of Associations of Persons with Disabilities (CUAPWD) is an umbrella organization bringing together the organizations of persons with disabilities in the 34 Sub-divisions of the 7 Divisions in the North West Region of Cameroon.
CUAPWD consists of a solid network of 121 organizations of persons with disabilities all over the North West region of Cameroon and is the Regional Representative of the National Platform for Inclusive Society in Cameroon.
Our Impact
Over the years, CUAPWD has initiated and carried out projects which have had breakthroughs that have significantly improved on quality of the lives of people living with an impairment including, but not limited to:
- Collaborate with health service providers to make services available, accessible and affordable to persons with disabilities.
- Advocate for the increase enrolment of Persons with Disabilities to educational facilities as a response to the global target of Education for All. CUAPWD facilitates this process by collaborating with educational authorities and other stakeholders to train educational human resource, provision of assistive technology and other educational needs specific to Persons with Disabilities. This aims at removing barriers in the teaching-learning process as well as improve on the participation and performance of learners with disabilities at all levels, especially with end of course evaluations.
- CUAPWD works to build the capacity of Persons with Disabilities to know and advocate for their rights towards an independent life. We empower leaders of Persons with Disabilities in their individual organizations and there is constant training in organizational development, collaboration and networking, advocacy and lobbying for equal opportunities. All of these create a strong disability movement in the Northwest Region which is second to none in the country and the sub-region
- Identify and refer persons with disabilities to vocational training centers for skill development and also organize workshops and seminars to build capacity in arts and craft, income generating activities, business management, and facilitate access to micro credit. There is a lot of emphasis on crop farming and animal rearing as a means to improve in food security of Persons with Disabilities and an alternative means of livelihood
- Provide counseling on marriages, self-esteem, relationships and family sustainability.
- CUAPWD equally works to build inclusive communities by advocating for the rights to infrastructural accessibility and to every development initiative. Also, CUAPWD collaborates with all development stakeholders to mainstream disability in all their endeavors and even in humanitarian interventions, given that our scope of intervention is currently under a socio-political crisis. It is worthy to note that we advocate and promote the rights of persons with disabilities in socio-cultural, sports and leisure activities.
- CUAPWD pays keen attention to safeguarding issues and supports member organizations and other stakeholders to develop policies and strategies that defends the rights of children, women, adults and older persons with disabilities
- In all, CUAPWD has recently adopted inclusive research as a solid way of finding and preserving data concerning persons with disabilities and also a way of presenting evidence to our work and other disability related activities.
Our Objectives
CAPACITY BUILDING:
To build capacity and provide opportunities for OPD to realize their own visions related to improving the lives of persons with disabilities and their families through workshops/training
COORDINATION:
To build a strong and diverse network of OPDs and to expand support to all persons with disabilities regardless of impairment, location, or economic status.
NETWORKING:
To partner with civil society organizations, governments, institutions and industries in promoting community-based inclusive development.
ADVOCACY:
To add value and strengthen the implementation of existing legal instruments promoting the rights of persons with disabilities.
HEALTH & SUSTAINABILITY:
To increase the accessibility of sporting and cultural events to persons with disabilities to promote health, spiritual empowerment and environmental protection.
POLICIES:
To develop internal policies that guarantee equitable and credible management of resources and the protection of all persons.
