To find out more about the organisations Leonard Cheshire works with in the Americas region, please click on one of the following country pages:
Argentina,
Barbados,
Canada,
Colombia,
Ecuador,
Grenada,
Guyana,
Honduras,
Jamaica,
Nicaragua,
Trinidad & Tobago, and
USA.
Although statistics vary across the region, there are an estimated 50 million disabled people in the southern part of the Americas.The numbers are especially high because of the region’s history of conflict and natural disasters. The region also has the highest level of inequality in the world. Approximately 82% of people with disability in the region live in poverty and only one quarter of children with disabilities attend school.
Although the region includes the USA, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, the main focus of work for the next three years will be in the Caribbean countries of Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and Guyana.
Service modernisation will be the key to the work that needs to be done so that disabled people are empowered to live more independent lives. Leonard Cheshire Disability is committed to work with the partners to improve and modernise these services, some of which have been operating in difficult conditions caused by hurricanes and small national economies.
Support for everyday living is the theme that we will follow as we seek to develop services to encourage more participation and involvement with the local communities. Programme development will include working towards developing new respite and independent living opportunities in Barbados, respite and community care at home services in Trinidad and Tobago, education and training in Guyana and improvement of the Cheshire services offered in Grenada.
We seek to establish ourselves in other parts of the region by maintaining and creating networks with disability and other organisations. We will also work with national committees and councils that raise the profile of disabled people and which work towards promoting the rights of disabled people.
