Overview

Recommendations to develop guidelines on community-based rehabilitation (CBR) were made during the International Consultation to Review Community-based Rehabilitation which was held in Helsinki, Finland in 2003. WHO; the International Labour Organization; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; and the International Disability and Development Consortium – notably CBM, Handicap International, the Italian Association Amici di Raoul Follereau, Light for the World, the Norwegian Association of Disabled and Sightsavers – have worked closely together to develop the Community-based rehabilitation guidelines. More than 180 individuals and representatives of nearly 300 organizations, mostly from low-income and middle-income countries around the world, have been involved in their development. 

The Community-based rehabilitation guidelines:

• Provide guidance on how to develop and strengthen CBR programmes;
• Promote CBR as a strategy for community-based development involving people with disabilities;
• Support stakeholders to meet the basic needs and enhance the quality of life of people with disabilities and their families;
• Encourage the empowerment of people with disabilities and their families.