Press Release

OPEC Fund extends grant of US$250,000 for rehabilitation of disabled in Nicaragua

68/2005 June 15, 2005, Seefeld, Tyrol, Austria
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The OPEC Fund for International Development today extended grant assistance in the amount of US$250,000 in support of the CAPADIFE Rehabilitation Center in Managua, Nicaragua. The grant will be channeled through the International Committee for the Red Cross’s Special Fund for the Disabled (ICRC-SFD). The project aims to produce good quality prostheses and/or orthoses and to provide disabled people with access to physical rehabilitation and medical services.

In co-operation with the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health, the SFD established in 2004 a new center called the “Different Disabilities Program” (CAPADIFE) to respond to the needs of the physically disabled and to complement the existing rehabilitation center in the country.

Landmines in Nicaragua continue to claim new victims each year, thus, increasing the number of disabled people by 2.7% annually. Owing to social and economic difficulties, the majority of disabled people have no access to rehabilitation services. Despite the critical need for physical rehabilitation services in Nicaragua, there exists currently only one center as such.

The establishment of the CAPADIFE Rehabilitation Center will enable production and fitting of artificial limbs for 360 physically impaired Nicaraguans each year. This will allow beneficiaries access to physical rehabilitation services and the possibility to be fitted with prostheses or orthoses of good quality (free of charge or at low cost) and/or to get rehabilitation equipment such as wheelchairs, walking aid or crutches. The project aims at contributing to the socio-economic reintegration of persons with disabilities through mobility restoration.