Background

In 2006 Handicap International and its Cambodian partners established a PRS and disability project, funded by the German government via the GTZ Project for Mainstreaming Poverty Reduction.

Step 1: Orientation

In step 1 – the orientation phase – the project manager assessed the stakeholders of the disability sector and held several meetings with them to evaluate their knowledge of and engagement in the PRS process so far. He also contacted PRS stakeholders and surveyed the PRS documents. This first step showed that disability stakeholders were not aware of the PRS process so far, while conversely PRS stakeholders were not taking people with disabilities into account.

Step 2: Meeting of possible allies

In the second step five Cambodian disability organisations formed a "PRS Inclusive Committee", which was entrusted with all project activities. One of its first activities was the organisation of a workshop on PRS and disability in January 2007. The workshop brought different stakeholders of the PRS and the disability sector together. A particularly fruitful outcome of this workshop was the contact established between the NGO Forum – a civil society body responsible for PRS monitoring – and the disability stakeholders. In the following months the NGO Forum supported the disability stakeholders in becoming involved in the PRS monitoring system.

Step 3: Identification of possible entry points

Parallel to the establishment of the committee and the organisation of the workshop and other meetings, the project manager continued with an in-depth analysis, which was finalised and published in April 2007. Based on this, a two-fold strategy was then adopted by the PRS Inclusive Committee, as follows: 

• At the national level, the PRS Inclusive Committee agreed to become involved in the monitoring process;
• At the local level, different disability organisations implemented micro projects.

Step 4: Joint strategy

The PRS Inclusive Committee compiled a monitoring statement that assessed how disability is included in the PRS. Micro grants were also provided too implement small-scale projects at the local level.