The majority of people with disabilities often live in difficult circumstances due to the lack of adequate services and opportunities. As a result, NGOs, consultancies and advocacy groups play an active part in promoting inclusivity, influencing policies and providing assistance — and prevention where possible — to the people living with disabilities.

Rehabilitation for persons with impairment and disability is demanding in any given context, because it involves long-term interventions and requires donations from national/international donors and care-providers with specialized skills. In protracted crises, however, rehabilitation is particularly challenging.

The infrastructure may be destroyed or degraded, affecting communication, access to buildings and roads, and procurement of rehabilitation products and services. The needs for rehabilitation will be increased, urgent and complex.

Cultural concepts and beliefs around disability may be stigmatizing, hindering the development of rehabilitation policies. Accordingly, the most vulnerable, including women and children with disabilities, may get further marginalized, exploited and exposed to violence.

Rehabilitation addresses the impact of a health condition on a person’s everyday life, by optimizing their functioning and reducing their experience of disability. Rehabilitation expands the focus of health beyond preventative and curative care, to ensure people with a health condition can remain as independent as possible and participate in education, work and meaningful life roles. Anybody may need rehabilitation at some point in their lives, whether they have experienced an injury, disease, illness, or because their functioning has declined with age.

Since its inception in 2007, CHEF International has been at the forefront of inclusive education, inclusive health, cross disability, eye-care, advocacy and disaster & emergency response with regard to relief and rehabilitation programmes.

CHEF International is dedicated to improve the quality of life of the children with disabilities at the community level. It implements its interventions for capacity building/training of school teachers related cross disabilities and physical accessibility of the children with disabilities.

In order to ensure provisioning of primary healthcare services to the persons with disabilities, CHEF International’s flagship inclusive health services programme has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands disabled persons. It has been offering comprehensive eye-care services for the restoration of the eyesight and treatment of eye diseases of the deserving people.

Under cross disability services, CHEF International strives for the provision of medical services for the specialized needs of persons with disabilities. It caters to mental health, ENT and eye-care services, with complete mechanism of screening, treatment and referral.

CHEF International takes advocacy as the cross-cutting theme and advocates for the rights of the children with disabilities in development initiatives and model programmes in cross disability. It closely works with the persons with disability and their organizations; facilitating them with ample opportunities to raise their voice for their inclusive and effective participation in society. CHE is the staunch proponent for the implementation on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities through legislation in Pakistan.

Last but not the least is that CHEF International is committed to serve the humanity in the area of its mandate under relief and rehabilitation programmes. CHEF International’s efforts with regard to the provision of relief and rehabilitation services to the devastated communities in the wake disasters speak volumes for its commitment serve the people in need. Whether it be the provision of emergency health services to the affectees of the deadly 2005 earthquake, provision of healthcare services to the persons with disabilities for internally displaced persons or helping the 2010 and 2014 floods affectees, it has remained the forefront for helping the needy people.

Under the able guidance of the visionary Board of Directors, CHEF International is determined to scale heights and cultivate new frontiers with regard to its vision, mission and values. We are determined to serve t effectively to witness inclusiveness in health, education and other spheres of life for the people in need, especially the persons with disabilities.