Frequently asked questions
1) Why is ADD needed?
Being disabled makes life more challenging, being disabled in a poor country is extra tough. There is an inextricable link between poverty and disability as poor access to clean water, food, education etc leads to increasing incidence of both disability and further poverty.
It is estimated that the number of disabled people who die every day due to extreme poverty is 10,000. Disabled people, especially disabled women and girls, are almost invariably among the poorest and most vulnerable members of any community (around 20% of the poorest of the poor). Disabled people´s primary needs are the same as other members of their communities, yet they are generally seen as needing specialised or medical help. ADD is helping them to change attitudes and to help themselves out of that poverty trap.
2) How will ADD benefit from regular gifts?
They allow us to plan for the future. We need to be sure we can support disabled people during the lengthy process of development, but ultimately they will be independent of ADD.
Our two main aims for the future are: To support the development of a self-sustaining, effective, democratic and representative disability rights movement- made up of membership organisations of disabled people, actively promoting the rights of all disabled adults and children for full inclusion in society; to influence policy makers and development organisations to include the rights and needs of disabled people in all their work.
3) What are DPO´s?
Disabled People´s Organisation´s (DPO's) are formal groups of disabled people whose philosophy is to promote self-representation, participation, equality and integration of disabled people. Committed to lobbying for human rights, they are among the most active civil society organisations of people in developing countries. ADD enters into partnerships with DPO's to strengthen their capacity to advocate for and represent the needs of their members through campaigning and appropriate activities. By acquiring skills in planning, organisation, fundraising and management, DPO's can become self-reliant. These skills are used to build access to training and education.
4) How does ADD incorporate the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) into its work?
The MDGs cannot be achieved unless disabled people are included. Since disabled people are amongst the poorest of the poor the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger must include them.
ADD has close links with MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY in order to strengthen its beneficial impact on disabled people. Other MDGs which propose access to education, adequate healthcare, environmental improvements and gender equality are by their nature included in the rights based work of DPOs. Disabled people themselves are able to address these issues empowered by ADD´s support.
5) Are there any other charities like ADD?
ADD is the only UK registered charity that supports disabled people in Africa and Asia with a rights-based approach. There are a number of non-emergency charities who cover disability and development issues, such as Sightsavers, Action Aid, Oxfam, and WomanKind and we encourage these and more charities to be inclusive in all their work.
Many charities are service-led, which means that they are impairment specific; their work may centre on specific health issues. ADD´s work embraces people with any disability (even those not strictly medically defined as disability, such as albinism). We focus on the social model of disability, because although people may have varied physical impairments, we have found that their social exclusion is the biggest barrier in everyday life.
6) How does ADD choose which countries to work in?
ADD does not pick places off the map. We begin working in countries where we have been invited to do so by the disability movement of that country, often we have been contacted by groups asking for help. Before deciding whether or not to go ahead ADD researches, amongst other things, the level of need in that country, whether enough of the disability networks are rights based and want to work with ADD, and the feasibility of setting up a programme in that particular country.
7) I´ve never heard of ADD– can they be trusted?
ADD is a registered charity and well known within the disability movement and amongst INGOs. We are often asked to give advice and provide training to larger charities and organisations such as Oxfam. Not only that but the UK Government, Comic Relief, Big Lottery Fund, amongst others have given us funds for over 15 years, we have won several awards for our work and been selected for two national newspaper Christmas Charity Appeals. In 2000, we were chosen for the Guardian Christmas Charity Appeal and in 2001 for the Independent´s Christmas Charity Appeal.
8) Why does ADD only work in certain countries?
It is not through lack of want or need. There is only a certain amount of places that ADD can afford to work in. We also believe in building on the work where we are already based rather than spreading ourselves too thinly.
9) Does ADD have a patron?
ADD does not have a patron – however, Tony Robinson is strongly associated with our work and has been a supporter for many years. British Paralympian, Anne Wafula Strike is our Goodwill Ambassador.
10) Why doesn´t the government in the relevant countries do something?
ADD works in countries of extreme poverty where governments struggle to provide for poor people overall. Unfortunately disability is still a stigma in certain countries and members of governments need to be educated as much as anyone else. Money just does not reach disabled people, which is why an important part of our work is to support disabled people in lobbying their governments to create change through legislation. In Bangladesh, for example, we have managed to get ten seats in parliament purely for disabled people´s rights.
11) Does ADD work with other charities?
Yes, we have worked on joint projects with other charities such as Action Aid, Send a Cow and Sense. We often refer disabled people to services provided by other organisations (e.g. Sight Savers). ADD´s Country Representatives work to create links with other charities as well as to raise awareness amongst them of the need to include disabled people in their work.
We also work with World Vision, both in the UK and in ADD's programmes, providing training on how to better include disabled people in their work. World Vision are very committed to this.