Jocelyn Garcia

Awards Night

2006-06-09T15:05:00.000+02:00

The Winners.....

Joy and Lita

Our Exhibit

World Bank Philippines - Competition on "Development with Equity"

2006-06-09T14:45:00.000+02:00

The recently concluded project grant competition which has the theme, “Development with Equity” initiated by the World Bank was proved to be successful and encouraging because a lot of organizations from all over the country have responded to this challenge and through our proposals we were able to come up with new ideas and sought ways on how to alleviate poverty, promote justice, and improve services to our clientele and beneficiaries. It seeks for innovative ideas that would improve the lives of Filipino people and promote development and social progress through small businesses and community based approach.

Out of 1,000 entries, only 87 project proposals were able to reach the final round of evaluation. These entries were focused on issues that would address specific inequity issues related to: incomes and income opportunities, access to or fairness in market and financial systems, access to social services, infrastructure, utilities and energy, access to or control of land and other assets, voice and participation in decision making, and access to or fairness in political and justice systems. As finalist, we were asked to present our project concept by setting up our booth where we have exhibited our products and presented our services and answer queries from the jurors and the public as well. From the finalists, fifty-nine 59 winning projects were chosen by a jury of eminent individuals in various fields and each was awarded around P1 million to start up the projects. Five 5 of the winners were from the sector of persons with disability.

The awards night was nerve shaking as we wait for the pronouncement of the winning organizations since we do not know whether we will be called or not. Finally, we won and we were relieved and overjoyed because we felt that our efforts were given justice. Thanks to all the jurors who believed in our capacity and to the organizers of this event, the World Bank for giving us the opportunity to present our concept of innovative marketplace addressing specifically the needs of Persons with Disabilities not only in my organization (TWH, Inc.), but to the whole PWD sector as well.

Our project once implemented would benefit a lot of individual PWDs, group of PWDs, home-based or center based groups. The business center that we will set up will serve as marketing arm of the products made by PWDs and it will also showcase the skills and services that PWDs can offer such as Celphone and watch repair, Computer assembly and repairs; Artworks that can be reproduced as greeting cards. The business center will also create a database of different products and services of PWDs so that when clients drop by and gets interested on a certain item and wanted to export it, it is easy to locate which PWD or group of PWD made it. Different regions in the country will be well represented because each region has its own specialized products that would be made of indigenous materials like coconut, abaca, and other native materials. Together with the products and services we will also include the PWDs with employable skills so that not only do we market the products and services but the PWDs themselves as well. This will be incorporated in the website so that companies who are willing to take them in can easily access the website. The website will be updated from time to time. There will be massive information dissemination so that more PWDs can benefit of this project. I believe that this is the first project ever that would create a deeper awareness on the capabilities of the disabled sector because it will bring about hope and change in the lives of the Filipino PWDs. Through this endeavor, I trust that we can sell out our skills and technology on a global scale like our neighboring countries.

World Bank Philippines Competition – 5 WINNERS from the PWD sector ·

Business Center for the Products and Services of Persons with Disabilities by Tahanang Walang Hagdanan, Inc.- Joy C. Garcia
Enabling and Empowering Persons with Autism Through Employment by the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Philippines (PAFI) ·
Youth Entre-ployment Support for the Deaf by De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) ·
PWD Mobile Stores of Cagayan de Oro City by Differently-Abled Women Network (DAWN) ·
Equal Access to Communications for the Deaf in Legal Proceedings by Philippine Deaf Resource Center, Inc. (PDRC), et. Al.

Workshops for PWD's in the Philippines

2006-05-12T18:45:00.000+02:00

Disabled people working in the wheelchair manufacturing and medicine packaging. This is what you can see in "House with No Steps Phils."

Human Rights and Disability Asia 2006

2006-05-03T22:49:00.000+02:00

During 2006 two Sida International Training Programmes on Human Rights and Disability will be organised by SHIA. The first one will target Asian participants from the following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, The Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam. The course will be held at Almåsa conference centre between the 8th and 19th of May 2006. The closing date for applying is November 15th 2005.

The second course will target participants from the MENA region- Middle East and Northern Africa from the following countries: Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen. The course will be held at Almåsa conference centre between the 4th and 15th of September 2006. The closing date for applying is March 15th 2006.

The programme aims at enhancing knowledge, develop methods and tools, and to provide a foundation for future networking and co-operation and will include:

An overview of the existing Human Rights instruments and discussions on how these can be used to improve life conditions for persons with disabilities.
An opportunity to exchange experiences and opinions concerning the drafting of the new UN “Convention on Disability” and the future role of the UN Standard Rules and the proposed additions.
An analysis of Poverty Reduction Strategies and other multilateral programmes and how disability aspects can be included. Methods and skills needed to influence these processes. Discussions around poverty and human rights from a disability perspective.
Exchange of experience of how persons with disabilities and their organisations can increase their participation in the development of policies.
Introduction to Swedish disability policy, legislation and social services, including study visits to relevant Swedish authorities, institutions and organisations.

Issues such as gender, children and hiv/aids in relation with persons with disabilities will be included within all topics.

The programme is targeting participants from regional or national DPOs, government agencies and NGOs working in the area of Human Rights and disability. Persons with disabilities have been especially encouraged to apply.

The programme organiser is SHIA - the Swedish Organisations’ of Disabled Persons International Aid Association.