Zero Project Innovative Practice 2018 on Accessibility
Large-scale access to health services in a low-income country
Togo – International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) MoveAbility Foundation
Summary:
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) MoveAbility Foundation,based in Geneva, Switzerland,supports sustainable, accessible, quality physical rehabilitation services, and promotes inclusion in low- and middle-income countries. The ICRC created the MoveAbility Foundation in 1983 (formerly the Special Fund for the Disabled) and provides administrative, logistical, and technical support.In 2015 the foundation initiated a project in Togo by working with a national school and a service provider to reinforce rehabilitation services for people with disabilitiesand by offeringmanagement training (Senior Leadership and Governance SLP) and the Essential Management Package (EMP) – a course designed to train and support managers of physical rehabilitation centres.
ProblemsTargeted:
The standards of physical rehabilitation services in Togo are very low due to the lack of skilled personnel and of coordinated mechanisms amongnational authorities,service providers, civil society, and people with disabilities.
Solution, Innovation, and Impact:
In order to develop organizational sustainability of the physical rehabilitation centres it is necessary to strengthen the management systems, as well as to develop staff competency and commitment. The EMP offers a process for managers, working with their actual work teams, to learn leadership and managing practices that make it possible to face challenges and achieve measurable results.The coursework includes management and leadership training adapted to the health and disability services environment, the introduction of standardized operational procedures and protocols, and financial sustainability planning.
Through SLP training, the ICRC, the local Management Science for Health organization, and the foundation brought togetherthe Ministry of Health (MoH), the director of a rehabilitation reference centre, a senior staff member of the Togolese Red Cross, and disabled peoples organizations to create a platform for information exchange and cooperation. As a result, the MoH substantially increased its financial contribution to support this project; and since then the number of services provided to people with disabilities has increased significantly. In 2016 some 9,800 people with disabilities received necessary rehabilitation services.
Outlook, Transferability, and Funding:
Members of the platformcontinue to meet and to influence decision makers, andfor the first time in Togo the physical rehabilitation actors and civil society are directly consulted on social policy. Platform members also raise issues of disability and place them on the political agenda. The MoH is currently working on a revision of the national social and protection policy to improve services for persons with disabilities.
The national platform is now being extended to other countries in Africa,and has been proposed in all cooperation agreements with the concerned ministries of the countries in which MoveAbility operates. Currently, it is being implemented in Tanzania and Benin,and Côte d’Ivoire has expressed an interest in developing such a platform as well.
The financial investment ofthe MoveAbility Foundation was 434,000 Euro in 2016 and 670,000 Euro in 2017, of which 21,000 Euro in 2016 and 30,000 in 2017 were used to back-up platform activities..The advocacy work done by the platform has subsequently been translated in an increased contribution from the government of20,000 Euro in 2016 and 70,000 Euro in 2017.
About the Practice at a Glance:
Name of Innovative Practice: Large-scale access to health services in a low-income country
Organisation: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) MoveAbility Foundation
Country of Implementation: Togo
Facts and Figures:
Services provided
- In 2015, 5,786 persons with disabilities received devices and services
- In 2016, 9,800 persons with disabilities received devices and services
Management training:
- In 2015, 5 participants to the 14-month SLP training (incl. 3 one-week residential training)
- In 2016, 6 participants to the 6 months EMP
Contact:
Michaela Björk
Links and further reading:
MoveAbility Website
Quote:
"Being part of the national platform with the various stakeholders involved is a real opportunity for change and for the greater inclusion of people with disabilities in society. "
—François Katatchom, Programme Director, Togolese Federation of Disabled People's Organization