Disabled Children in a Society at War - A casebook from Bosnia (Paperback)

This casebook analyzes the lessons for working with disabled children learned from a programme initiated by Oxfam at the height of the civil war in Bosnia. Disabled children in Eastern Europe were traditionally cared for in centralized institutions which were run by State-paid professionals. When State services began to break down under pressure of war, Oxfam assumed responsibility for one such centre in Tuzla. The emphasis of the centre gradually evolved from the provision of clinical services to the integration of the children into the local community - this approach slowly won the support of the local authorities. The project has now become regarded as a model and this book is designed for planners and project officers in non-government development organizations. The three major themes examined are: development in conflict - how is it possible to work on long-term social development projects in an unstable society?; disability in conflict - when war politisizes disability, how does this affect different groups of disabled people?; and the social model of disability in a post-communist society - what happens when the western European approach to disability is introduced into a State which is still making the transition from the collectivist values of communism?