Annual Performance Report : March  2005 and March  2006

The Society for Protection of Handicapped Children and Youth (SPHCY) is a non-governmental voluntary organization with humanitarian objectives which has been offering secondary rehabilitation to handicapped children and youth with somatic  and  mobility  difficulties from birth to age 16.  Through rehabilitation services,   inter alias,  occupational therapy,  physiotherapy,  speech and game therapy, this  organization  has  succeeded in helping a large number of children and youth with various physical and speech difficulties to regain a considerable percentage  of  their  potential  abilities.

As well  as  the  provision of a special environment for the rehabilitation of  the children with physical disabilities, this organization also  pursues,  inter alias,   empowering family members, suitable nutrition training, prevention from other disabilities and counseling.   This is in order to pave the way for the independency and self-confidence of the individuals with disabilities with the intention of creating equal conditions to those of able individuals and the participation of the  handicapped  people  in  the  society.

Considering the change in the definition of  the disability  phenomenon  across  the world to: “Disability means losing parts of one’s physical and emotional  abilities causing disorder in their effective social participation”;  the society has to  be designed to create a system which will not cause any disorder in the social  participation of people with disabilities. Under this definition of disability, the discussion on citizens rights,  transformation  in the  management of  the affairs of  persons with disabilities on a macro level,  access to new information sources and  presentation of  transportation in such a way as to cover all the citizens has to be  taken into consideration.

Therefore, the role of non-governmental organizations, especially those that work on handicapped phenomenon, is of particular importance in the  making  of suitable decisions and  to have influence on the decision makers and the policy  planners. Since a law is nothing more than writing on a paper, it is the  implementation of a law that  can lead to the fulfillment of  the rights. Rights are  one category and the achievement of the rights is another, which needs the stronger will-power of all the authorities and the beneficiaries of this phenomenon.

We hope that all of the people in society will have equal rights one day. With  sincere thanks to all those who have assisted us in fulfilling our objectives. We remain in the utmost need of your sympathy and unity.  

A: Expert  activities:

• 880 hours of occupational therapy;

• 550 hours of physiotherapy;

• Conducting educational meetings and counseling on nutrition for the mothers  of children with disabilities.

B:  Meetings held at the Society’s venue:

• Celebrating the Society’s sixth anniversary attended by experts,   authorities,  benefactors cooperating with the organization and the  parents of children with disabilities

• Press Conference in respect to Universal Day of People with Disabilities, attended by all the active NGOs on the handicapped phenomenon,  the  experts of  the non-governmental organizations,  the media journalists and reporters

• Holding group meetings to  educate  the parents of the children with disabilities  in  order to learn to have more appropriate communication with their children

C:  Lateral  activities:

• Expanding the clinic's environment and better equipping it

• Financial donations to purchase artificial limbs for a number of the children with  disabilities in Tehran and those who had encountered physical  disorders as a result  of the earthquake in Bam

• Presentation of in kind donations and other initial necessities to the needy families  who have a disabled child

• Collaboration with the Special Education Organization of the Education Ministry,   high officials of The Health and Treatment Organization and The Welfare  Organization

• Presentation of articles and conducting interviews with the media to enhance public     awareness on the handicapped phenomenon and influence their views on that issue

• Preparation of statistical diagrams representing the level of progress of the  disabled children in order to evaluate the effects of the rehabilitation services on  these children

• Cooperation with those non-governmental organizations working on the handicapped phenomenon to stabilize the established networks in order to fulfill  common objectives

• Regarding the importance of literature in the field of empowering and Community  Based Rehabilitation(C.B.R.), efforts were made to publish periodicals and  monographs from 2004 and up to this date seven issues of  this internal publication,   called “The Capable” have been published

• Identifying the children and youth with disabilities and referring them to special centers under the coverage of The Welfare Organization to gain the utmost benefit.  This is carried out with the  coordination of the aforementioned organization

• Dispatching the name and number of children and youth with disabilities covered by SPHCY to  The Interior Welfare Organization

• Information dissemination regarding SPHCY's services to other organizations and also to the  families of  the children with disabilities for utilization of SPHCY's facilities and services

• Conducting educational workshops on the rights of citizens for a number of active NGOs  on the  handicapped  phenomenon

• Participating in meetings,  workshops and conferences related to SPHCY's activities

• Collaboration with the high officials of The Health and Treatment Ministry and Medical Education in compilation of  tri–lateral  strategies for the government, the non-governmental sector and high officials of The Health and Treatment Ministry

• Cooperation with United Nations Development Programes in compiling the Good Governance document and suggesting it to the  government for approval

• Participation in workshops aimed at educating the members of The Tavana Society for the  Handicapped Individuals in the city of Ghazvin; a member of this society served as coordinator in formulating this plan

• Participation in presenting the meetings on empowering the trainees of The Raad Complex of Kerman