As part of its ongoing efforts to promote disability-inclusive humanitarian action, the Coordinating Unit of Associations of Persons with Disabilities (CUAPWD), with support from CBM under the Leave No One Behind Phase 4 (LNOB4) project, conducted an intensive two-day capacity-building workshop for program/administrative staff, partner staff, and interns of SOPISDEW Cameroon.
The training, designed and facilitated entirely by CUAPWD’s expert team, focused on deepening understanding of disability concepts, barriers to inclusion, legal frameworks, and practical strategies for mainstreaming disability across humanitarian programming.
The impact of the workshop was immediate and deeply personal. Several participants openly reflected on their previous misconceptions about persons with disabilities. One staff member shared a particularly moving testimony:
“I have a child with a visual impairment at home, and I used to insult them because I didn’t know how to support them. Thanks to this training, I now realize that my child has so much to offer and can learn Braille. I now understand that without barriers, there are no disabilities — only impairments.”
This powerful shift in perspective resonated throughout the room. By the end of the training, participants expressed gratitude for the eye-opening sessions and committed to treating persons with disabilities with dignity, respect, and equality.
Beyond changing attitudes, the workshop provided a solid foundation in key frameworks, including the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), Cameroon’s 2010 Law on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the IASC Guidelines on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action. Participants gained practical tools such as the Washington Group Short Set (WG-SS) questions for disability disaggregation.
Concrete Commitments for Lasting Change
Motivated by the training, SOPISDEW made several important commitments, including:
- Updating organizational tools — particularly attendance registers — to capture disability-disaggregated data.
- Revising internal policies and communication approaches to become more inclusive.
- Appointing a Disability Inclusion Focal Point.
- Intentionally budgeting for reasonable accommodations in future projects.
- Ensuring meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in project design and implementation.
The CEO of SOPISDEW, Tah Kennette Konsum, who attended the full two days of training, expressed strong support for these changes. He acknowledged past challenges in working with persons with disabilities and affirmed that the training had equipped the organization to ensure their meaningful involvement moving forward. SOPISDEW plans to immediately organize an entrepreneurship workshop for persons with disabilities as one of its first follow-up actions.
CUAPWD remains committed to providing ongoing technical support and collaboration to help SOPISDEW translate these commitments into tangible results.
This partnership between CUAPWD and CBM continues to drive meaningful change by not only building technical capacity but also transforming mindsets. Through targeted trainings like this, humanitarian organizations are increasingly recognizing that true inclusion starts with seeing the person first and that when barriers are removed, everyone benefits.
