Chapter 1: APCD and the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) Project

1) What is APCD?
The Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability (APCD) is a regional center on disability and development established in Bangkok, Thailand as a legacy of the Asia and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons 1993-2002, with joint collaboration of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Royal Thai Government, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Government of Japan. In cooperation with more than thirty countries in the Asia-Pacific region, APCD is managed by the APCD Foundation under the Patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) identified APCD as the regional center on disability for the Incheon Strategy to Make the Right Real, 2013-2022.

Logos: APCD, 



2) What is the APCD/JAIF Project?
The APCD/Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) Project aims at improving the overall quality of life and well-being of persons with disabilities in the ASEAN region through: 1) strengthening relations between ASEAN member countries; 2) capacity building of persons with disabilities, especially those in vulnerable and disadvantaged situations; and 3) community-based inclusive development activities including non-handicapping environment (NHE) approaches. These three strategies are integral to mainstreaming disability into development, whereby persons with disabilities are empowered and included as valued members of society with equal access to human rights.

The project was implemented in selected target communities in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) for a period of 1 year in Phase 1, from October 2012 to September 2013. Main activities of the project for this period include: 1) Identification of target communities in CLMV; 2) ASEAN regional meetings; 3) Steering committee meetings; 4) Baseline survey; 5) Development of action plans based on results of baseline survey; and 6) Training of leaders with disabilities and local government officials. This report focuses on 4) Baseline survey in selected target communities in CLMV.  