FFO/CDPF Collaboration 2002-2008: Organisation Building and Reaching the Grassroots

Background:
In 1991 FFO started collaborating with CDPF, and continues to do so in a collaboration on organisational capacity building.  This comprises holding “train-the-trainer” courses for DPF staff on CBS ideology and methodology, and on the UN Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Disabled People, coupled with producing training materials and arranging study trips to Norway for CDPF and DPF staff.

Purpose/objective:
The purpose of this evaluation was to assess the effect of the FFO/CDPF collaboration in the period from January 2002 to June 2008 in order to provide the collaboration partners with:
• a better understanding of the achievements of their collaboration, and areas for improvement; and
• findings,analysis and recommendations that can assist them in decision-making relating to current and future collaboration.

Methodology:
The following methods were used in the evaluation: Document review, field trip and interviews with CDPF employees, government officials and other stakeholders, FFO-CDPF workshop attendance and survey by questionnaire.

Key findings:
By defining already in the 2003 that the “overall aim for the project period” should be to “strengthen DPFs work for persons with disabilities in China regarding employment, organizational building together with access to community based services”, the collaboration drew CDPF’s attention to the community-based or grassroots focus at a time when CDPF was still looking for suitable methodologies in its DPO development work.  Eventually the methodologies were defined in Grassroots Guidelines and Commissioner Guidelines.

In the 15 training courses for a total of 1,625 course participants, FFO has directly and indirectly represented and presented model implementations of a range of CBS concepts, as well as welfare models for disabled people that encapsulate the spirit of the UN Standard Rules. CDPF considers that the non-financial contributions made by FFO to CDPF and the collaboration activities in terms of ideological support and solidarity, are at least equally important to FFO’s financial contributions.

The findings are that FFO has played an important role by expressing solidarity with CDPF’s work for PWDs in China through the collaboration activities.  In terms of standard evaluation items, the findings are:

1. Effectiveness – very good
2. Impact – good to very good in the short term; satisfactory to good in the long term
3. Relevance – excellent
4. Sustainability – good
5. Efficiency – very good

Based on these findings, the conclusion is that the overall effect of the FFO/ CDPF collaboration is very good.

Recommendations:
FFO, CDPF and relevant DPFs should develop guidelines for “first and second tier” trainees on how many staff they should train following participation on a “train-the-trainer” FFO/ CDPF course.  Training materials with recommended format and contents of “lower-tier“ training should be provided to “first and second tier” trainees, to ensure the standards of the “lower-tier” training they give.

A national curriculum for Disability Commissioners should be developed.  It should contain a national module to ensure standardised training and minimum standards of knowledge, plus a local module teaching the Commissioners rules and information applicable to the locality and administrative level at which the Commissioners work.

FFO and CDPF should look at ways to support CDPF in improving horizontal coordination at all levels between relevant local government departments and DPFs at the appropriate level.  Such horizontal coordination is necessary to maximise funding from different channels for areas of disability work where there are still large pockets of unmet needs.  Furthermore, the parties should look at ways to ensure better relations and more involvement between the CDPF/ DPF network and the formal and informal CNGO sector.

Comments from the organisation, if any:
In recent years impressive and wide-ranging advances have been made in China’s work for PWDs in many areas.  This has contributed to significant improvements in the conditions and life quality for the country’s almost 83 million disabled.  However, areas of great and urgent needs remain, especially in the generally poor countryside where some 75% of China’s disabled reside.  In 2006, roughly 9 million PWDs in rural areas were living in extreme poverty, surviving on less than 1 dollar per day (World Bank standard, 1993 PPP).  PWDs living in China’s urban areas officially represent 40% of the total poor urban population.

FFO and CDPF have already worked out a strategy to follow up the recommendations of the evaluation, in order to reach the grass root levels of the CDPF system, and to further improve the “train-the-trainer” concept.

In accordance with the Norwegian China Strategy, FFO and CDPF want to continue the collaboration in the field of human rights and welfare system development. This is no less important now, as China has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.