As we close out the year 2024, we are finalizing the report we’ve been focused on for almost four months. In August, we visited Geneva to express our concern about the implementation of the care system during the meeting of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I would like to begin by thanking Amalia Gamio for giving us this space and for her constant support. Your tireless work is an example for all of us.
There, we met and spoke with Stefan Tromel from the International Labour Organization, and from that encounter, this project was born. Thank you for giving us this valuable opportunity and for placing your trust in us. Without a doubt, this trust opened a path toward freedom—not only for us, but for many people with disabilities around the world.
This report presents the findings of only four independent living centers. However, we are already working with 13 countries and have launched the Latin American Network for Independent Living together with former fellows of the Independent Living Course by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). This story began in 2007, when Costa Rica’s then National Council on Rehabilitation and Special Education launched the legendary Kaloie Project in Pérez Zeledón. I would like to thank the directors who have served since the beginning (the agency became the National Council on Disability in 2015): Adriana Retana Salazar, Isabel Chamorro, Lizbeth Barrantes, Bilbia González Ulate, and Francisco Azofeifa. And especially María Eugenia Salas and Paula Arias, who work more closely with us—not just collaborators, but friends. Without their passion for the rights of persons with disabilities, none of this would be possible today.
My thanks to Yoko Ishibashi, expert from the Kaloie Project, as well as Masako Okuhira, Takako Kamijo, and Yoko Isobe, who supported us in the Colombia Project, and to Junko Ono and Emi Aizawa in Paraguay. To Cynthia Gómez from JICA Argentina, who for the first time gave us visibility in Latin America and visited the Morpho Center in 2019. Thanks also to Mónica Okabe for her ongoing support of our colleagues in Bolivia.
To Shoji and Yukiko Nakanishi, thank you for your guidance through both the good and difficult times. I am truly happy if we have been able to contribute, even a little, to your great work. To Shunji Kadota, Satoshi Sato, Yukinori Tamaki, and Tsutomu Shimoji from the Mainstream Association, pioneers of independent living in Nishinomiya, Japan: the path you opened now reaches all corners of the world. Thank you so much.
December 19, 2024
Takeshi Inoue
Founder of RELAVIN
2.1 Independent Living Center in Uruguay
Introduction
2.1.1 Beginning of the Independent Living Movement in Uruguay (1983)
2.1.2 General Information on Persons with Disabilities
2.1.3 Creation of the First Independent Living Center in Uruguay
2.1.4 Characteristics of Personal Assistant Training Courses
2.1.5 Historical Development of Personal Assistance in Uruguay Driven by the Independent Living Center (1997–2015)
2.1.6 Implementation of Legislation on Personal Assistants (2010–2015)
2.1.7 Regulatory Framework of the National Integrated Care System (2015–2024)
2.1.8 Reopening of the Becky Sabah Independent Living Center and Current Situation (2024)
2.2 Independent Living Centers in Costa Rica
Introduction
2.2.1 Independent Living Centers and Political Advocacy – How and What Was Achieved?
2.2.2 Model of Independent Living Centers in Costa Rica
2.2.2.1 Differences Between Services Provided by ILCs and Those Offered Directly by CONAPDIS
2.2.2.2 Access Requirements and Determination of Care and Support Levels
2.2.2.3 Training Processes for Personal Assistants
2.2.2.4 Training for Service Users
2.2.2.5 Waiting List for Accessing Independent Living Center Services
2.2.3 General Data on the Personal Assistance Dispatch Service
2.2.3.1 Working Conditions of Personal Assistants
2.2.3.2 Number of Personal Assistants
2.2.3.3 Number of Service Users
2.2.4 Profile of Service Users
2.2.5 Profile of Personal Assistants
2.2.6 Independent Living Centers in Costa Rica