The principles of CBR

The CBR Guideline of WHO refers to 10 principles in total of which 8 form major principles of the UNCRPD. In Monitoring and Evaluation Enablement puts the main emphasis on 3 principles, as Enablement believes that all can be incorporated within these 3 essential principles:

• Empowerment - happens when individuals or groups of people recognize that they alone can change their situation and then begin to do so. To succeed, they may need support from family, community or civil society. How does the program plan for this? Do people with disabilities have influence on their life situations? Are Disabled People’s Organisations/community groups involved in decision-making processes in their communities?
• Inclusion - how does the program enable persons with disabilities to participate in mainstream institutions in each of the 5 domains of the WHO CBR Guidelines? In what way is a multi-sectoral approach incorporated to achieve true inclusion?
• Sustainability - how is the program embedded in the surrounding community and how does it draw on local resources? Is the organization able to adapt to changing circumstances?

Why Monitoring and Evaluation?

Evidence is needed to prove that CBR is having a substantial impact in terms of quality of life of persons with disability, in changing attitudes and practices in communities, in order to incorporate CBR in national and regional development plans. As CBR is often the only way people with low (and middle) incomes have access to services, and since people with disabilities all too often belong to this group, CBR needs to become institutionalized: i.e. governments need to develop sustainable systems and structures –- and allow at the same time contextualized developments, which together will lead to the much required social change.  Ultimately it should lead to social acceptance of persons with all sorts of disabilities and thus would result in a society, which is inclusive for all. It is thus of vital importance to provide - through M&E – the evidence to the public as well donor agencies and governments that CBR is the preferred rehabilitation approach; that CBR is appropriate, effective and efficient.

The Enablement approach to M&E is thus that evaluations should have attention for the 3 essential CBR principles and focus on:

• The individual person with disability and his or her family
• Social change of communities which means that it should be attentive to development and transformation
• The empowerment of individual persons with disability as well as their organisations (DPOs)
• The CBR system and supporting structures 

How does M&E affect CBR?

Monitoring and Evaluation are processes to improve CBR practices and with that the quality of life of people with disabilities. M&E according to Enablement’s vision should be done by both desk study and field visits and includes the following aspects:

1. Context analysis of policy state factors & eco-social factors
2. Stakeholder analysis
3. Intervention logic mirroring the three principles
4. Terms of Reference based on critical dialogue with stakeholders
5. Fieldwork using methods adapted to the context, both quantitative and qualitative and always participative and cultural sensitive.
6. Reporting and debriefing with clear recommendations

Methodology

Enablement believes evaluations are necessary to improve CBR practices and enable stakeholders to learn from it. Therefore we discuss with stakeholders at all levels and use an approach in which we help them to reflect on their activities. In this process Enablement operates with respect towards the people involved.

When Enablement evaluates CBR projects, we use the ToR, the main topics and questions of the organisation and the three principles inclusion, empowerment and sustainability. Enablement uses up-to-date methods and our reports are adapted to the target group. We work in a multi disciplinary team and are transparent and honest, critical and independent.

Enablement's expertise in M&E

We offer a 2 week training in M&E in CBR; this training focuses on essential areas in monitoring processes and the evaluation of CBR programs/ projects such as: Principles of CBR, Terms of Reference, Logical Framework, MIS, Methods of data collection and reporting. The major part of the training is participatory and exposes participants to the practical aspects of M&E.

Enablement has useful working relations with a large selection of national and international NGOs, such as the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, and universities, such as the University College of London (United Kingdom), the University of Cape Town (South Africa), the VU University in Amsterdam and as such involves MSc students in evaluation research including systematic reviews. 

Enablement has been involved in several evaluation studies in recent years. These studies have been commissioned by organisation such as the Liliane Foundation, Danida, The Leprosy Mission International, The Karuna Foundation, CORDAID, Wilde Ganzen Foundation, CBM. They took place in various countries: i.e. Albania, Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.