Churachandpur is a town located in Indian state of Manipur and the largest district headquarters of Manipur, inhabited by the Kuki-Chin-Mizo-Zomi tribes of Manipur, covering an area of 4,750 sq.km. The district is beautifully inhabited by different tribes, endowed with a rich biodiversity as it is surrounded by numerous hills and narrow valley.

Disability

According to the 2011 census, the District has a population of about 271,274 and literacy rate of 84.29 %. Out of the total population, 3% is constituted by Persons with Disability. The common types of Disability includes Cerebral Palsy, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Locomotor Disability, Intellectual Disability, Visual Impairment, Hearing Impairment, Speech and Language Disability, Multiple Disabilities and Multiple Sclerosis.

Disability is caused by the way society is organized, rather than by a person’s impairment or difference. People with disabilities have always been a part of the society, but they were not always accepted and looked after like we do now. For centuries, society as a whole treated these people as objects of fear and pity. The prevailing attitude was that such individuals were incapable of participating in or contributing to the society and that they must rely on welfare or charitable organizations. Social constructs and ways of thinking have framed the views of society and therefore how people with disabilities were treated. These constructs and ideas of what disability is still frame our society and thinking today.

Therefore, CCI is working towards the upliftment of persons with disabilities, making them aware of their rights and responsibilities, mapping a positive and supportive environment to join hands in working towards an inclusive society.

Community Empowerment & Advocacy

Sustainable Development

Sustainability focuses on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The concept of sustainability is composed of three pillars: economic, environmental, and social.

In Churachandpur, the predominant population is constituted by indigenous communities belonging to the Scheduled Tribes as categorized by the Constitution. The communities of tribes are endowed with natural resources such as land, forest and water and equipped with age old indigenous knowledge which enable for the optimum utilization of natural resources to meet their needs. However, in terms of measuring their contribution to the country’s economy, the average monthly income of most of the families is below 2,50,000 per annum. Majority of the tribes in the hills depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Only about 5% of the population are employed in the formal sector while many of them practice traditional forms of livelihood such as animal husbandry, charcoal making, loin loom weaving, small private firms and as daily wage labourers.

The key to empowerment is to capacitate any individual with skills keeping in mind their interests, provide opportunities for growth of full potential and enable them to be important stakeholders in the community. CCI works on different projects such as natural resource management, springshed management, etc. which focuses on sustainable development of the communities with participation from persons with disabilities and the marginalised community.

Disaster

Floods in the state have increased since 2005. According to the disaster profile of Manipur, prepared by the National Institute of Disaster Management, floods are occurring due to heavy rainfall in the upper catchment areas in the hills. It shows that 35 per cent of the catchment area of rivers in the hilly areas is degraded. This enhances surface run-off, worsening floods.

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is a systematic approach to identifying, assessing and reducing the risks of disaster. It can also be broadly understood as the implementation of strategies and practices to reduce the occurrence of hazards, decrease the exposure and vulnerability of people and their assets, and strengthen the capacity of people to cope with their impact.

People with disabilities, older people, pregnant women, children and other at risk groups are often forgotten in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and left behind when disaster happens. They are excluded from disaster preparedness measures, they are invisible when it comes to community and risk mapping or evacuation planning, they find it harder to access shelters and safe spaces due to environmental and attitudinal barriers or protection risks, and receive inadequate or inappropriate relief and support.  CCI therefore, incorporates Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DiDRR) in order to protect and take necessary precautionary measures for all.