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Frequently asked questions

1) Why is ADD International 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 among the poorest and most vulnerable members of any community (around 20% of the poorest of the poor).

Disabled people´s needs are the same as other members of their communities, yet most mainstream development, aid and relief agencies do not include them in their work and are seen as needing specialised or medical help.

2) What are DPO´s?

Disabled People´s Organisation´s (DPO's) are formal groups of disabled people who work 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.

3) How does ADD International 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.

You can read more about disabled people and the MDGs on the Include Everybody website.

4) Are there any other charities like ADD International?

ADD is the only UK-based development charity that works exclusively with disabled people in Africa and Asia with a human rights approach. We support disabled people to make decisions about their own lives and to campaign for the basic rights other people take for granted: education; employment; basic healthcare;respect;dignity.

Many charities are service-led, which means that they are impairment specific and their work focusses on specific disabilities. ADD´s work embraces people with any disability (even conditions not strictly medically defined as disability, such as albinism and epilepsy). 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.

5) How does ADD International 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.

6) I´ve never heard of ADD International – 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 and Comic Relief  amongst others have funded us for over 15 years, we have won several awards for our work and been selected for three national newspaper Christmas Charity Appeals. In 2000, we were chosen for the Guardian Christmas Charity Appeal and for The Independent´s Christmas Charity Appeal in 2001 and 2008.

7) Does ADD International 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.

8) Does ADD International work with other charities?

Yes, we work on joint projects with other charities such as World Vision, Action Aid and Sight Savers. ADD's Country Directors 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.