HANDICAP International - Philippine Program Website

Handicap International is an international non-governmental organisation which works to improve the quality of life and the living conditions of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in developing countries and in post-conflict zones.

The organisation was set up Lyon, France in 1982 when young French doctors and physiotherapists set up the first orthopedic centers in Thailand for Cambodian refugees who escaped the Khmer Rouge massacre and been maimed by landmines.

From its first projects, the organisation has since been working throughout the world to provide access to care and to improve the living conditions and the autonomy of PWDs. Over a period of more than 20 years, Handicap International stands strong in promoting Vivre Debout (Live Standing Up). It has set up programmes in more than 60 countries and has intervened in many emergencies. In addition to its work in the field, Handicap International is also involved in social struggles, in particular the fight against landmines, and signed an international treaty to this effect in 1997.

In recognition of its work, Handicap International was awarded the 1996 Nansen prize and medal by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. As co-founder and member of the pilot committee of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), Handicap International was a co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.

Handicap International has developed an international network with sections in Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Great Britain, and Canada. Representations in Denmark and the United States complete this network.

Handicap International helps people in disabling situations who, because of their physical, mental or psychological condition, find it difficult to maintain a social role in their community or are extremely vulnerable in crisis situations. These people are among the most severely affected by inequality, exclusion and, more generally, by poverty. Through its projects and political actions, Handicap International works so that people in disabling situations may recover their capacity to act, increase their social participation and become self-sufficient.

People in disabling situations include:

people with permanent or temporary disabilities resulting from a physical, sensory or mental impairment;
people suffering from chronic diseases with a high risk of a resultant disability, in particular AIDS;
people with mental health difficulties and more particularly people suffering from psychological distress.

Handicap International acts as a catalyst by providing technical, structural and financial aid, helps anybody who has disability, whatever the cause: congenital or prenatal disability, or one caused by illness, accident, violence, conflict, trauma or malnutrition, failure in social services, and natural disaster. Handicap International promotes an inclusive approach – developing services for PWDs at the same time ensuring that they have access to those services intended for everyone, and for this the organisation helps not just PWDs but their families and communities as well.