Central and West Africa regional office

You are here: Our projects > Where we work > Central and West Africa regional office

There are three reasons behind the creation of a regional coordination for Central and West Africa: a political unity guaranteed by regional organisations, the deployment of regional strategies specific to Handicap International based on networks of partners or a multi-country project approach and finally, the volume of the association’s activity in the region: more than 1/4 of the organisation's programmes and 38% of its global programmes budget for Central and West Africa.
Our desire to decentralise certain of its functions is an additional factor.
 
BACKGROUND
1999: a seminar was organised in Senegal for the Handicap International teams in West Africa (Mali, Togo, Benin, Burkina and Senegal) with two objectives: exchanging experiences on the sub-region’s different projects and seeking appropriate solutions in both organisational and operational terms. At the end of the meeting, it was decided to create a West Africa regional programmes department.
2000: 3 new Handicap International programmes added their support to the regional office: Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic.
2002: after deliberations at head office on the subject of decentralisation, Programmes Management agreed to the creation of a decentralised platform for Central and West Africa with the aim of localising support services that were previously devolved to head office.
2003: the Central and West Africa Regional Coordination was set up (recruitment of human resources, organisation of premises, redefinition of mandate).

STRATEGY
The objectives of the CWARC are:

• to improve the quality and increase the technical, administration and communication capacity of Handicap International’s projects in the Central and West Africa region
• to assure a regional coordination by theme of the programmes’ activities in the zone, using appropriate resources and communication and information tools
• to ensure Handicap International programmes’ inclusion in regional networks and increase the legibility of our actions in the region

ACTIVITIES
CWARC supports Handicap International’s programmes in the following areas:

• orthopaedics
• functional rehabilitation
• community-based rehabilitation (CBR)
• speech therapy
• planning, monitoring, evaluation (PME), and capitalisation of projects
• administration, logistics, finance and human resources management
• communication and documentation
• associative and structural support
• development of sub-regional intervention strategy

1. Quality assurance
Thanks to its proximity to the field and its network of specialists, the WCARC can provide personalised technical assistance to Handicap International’s national programmes in Mali, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Togo, Central African Republic and Guinea Bissau. The WCARC accompanies the projects during the key stages of the project management cycle and helps them to identify resource staff.

2. Skills development and promotion
By capitalising on its field experience, its team can develop tools and methods that benefit the whole region. The WCARC also participates in identifying, recruiting, orienting and training Handicap International project staff. It plays an important role in the promotion and dissemination of Handicap International’s technical know-how and in the development of regional sectorial strategies.

3. Sub-regional strategy
The WCARC assists with the development of strategies:

• reflection on areas forming part of the association’s mandate and that could lead to ideas for projects
• assistance to head office in considering possibilities for opening new projects (feasibility missions, etc.)
• stimulate reflection on new themes to be developed in West Africa. Promote their operationality in the form of projects (feasibility mission)

BENEFICIARIES
Direct beneficiaries: Handicap International’s programmes in West and Central Africa.
Indirect beneficiaries: the programmes’ local partners and people with disabilities benefit from the improvements in Handicap International’s interventions.

RESOURCES

• A regional coordinator in methodology and structural support to provide technical support:
  - to Handicap International programmes in planning, monitoring and evaluation and regional technical coordination
  - to the associative support and structural support projects
• A regional Rehabilitation coordinator to provide technical support in orthopaedics, physiotherapy, CBR, etc.
• A WCARC regional coordinator who also deals with aspects related to sub-regional communication and documentation.

CONTACTS
01 BP 541 Ouagadougou 01,
Burkina Faso.
Tel: 00 226 38 15 15
Fax: 00 226 38 63 85
E-mail: coraoc@cenatrin.bf