INTRODUCTION

The following Strategic Planning document was officially adopted by the Governing Board of the Disability Action Council (DAC) at the joint meeting with Advisory Committee, held on February 26, 2002 at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labor, Vocational Training and Youth Rehabilitation (MOSALVY). It is intended to propose key strategic directions and recommendations for further consolidation and development of the DAC Secretariat in the future.

The document has been developed in response to the following:

• United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002;
• Guiding Principles of the Task Force Report (1996);
• Report on Future Directions for the DAC-Secretariat, April 2000;
• Strategic Directions for the Disability and Rehabilitation Sector in Cambodia, Second Edition, February 2001;
• Findings of the DAC External Assessment Report conducted during July 2001;
• Recommendations of the DAC Strategic Planning Workshop held in November 2001;
• Subsequent discussion between the DAC Secretariat and United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Leahy War Victim's Fund (LWVF); and
• Experiences and lessons learned during the past three years.

A DAC External Assessment, a DAC Strategic Planning Workshop and subsequent appraisals were conducted before moving to the next three-year cycle in order to:

• Reflect on progress and achievement to date;
• Identify opportunities and constraints;
• Modify planning and action to be taken accordingly;
• Review existing resources for future action; and
• Make appropriate adjustments in relation to funding availability.

Other factors taken into consideration include:

• The delegation of coordination responsibility on victim assistance to the DAC by the Sub-decree of Cambodian Mine Action Authority (CMAA).
• The need to develop a process of prioritizing United Nations Economic and Social Commission in Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) components and identifying priority areas for investment;
• The need to build up national capacity, facilitate the inclusion of disabled needs into the planning cycles of government ministries and civil society;
• The need to develop, implement, monitor and evaluate a national plan of action in the disability and rehabilitation sector;
• The need to develop a process for the reform of DAC's Executive Board, thus enabling it to become a genuinely Governing Board with clear Terms of Reference;
• The emerging role and functions and the need to strengthen the capacity of the DAC Secretariat in order to obtain achievable results.
• The need to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities into all mainstream programs and activities.

While developing this Strategic Plan and a Project Proposal for the next three-year cycle and beyond, it is important to take the following issues into consideration:

• The dynamic nature of a recently formed national semi-autonomous coordinating body on a permanent learning curve; and
• The fact that DAC is still in a process of establishing important guidelines in disability programming.

This document is intended to form the basis of a finalized Strategic Plan for DAC and a Proposal for fundingfrom USAID/LWVF (and other donors) for the period from May 2002 to April 2005.