The Community Based Rehabilitation Alliance (COMBRA) is an indigenous, non-governmental organization that was founded in 1990 (registered under the NGO Registration Statue, 1989 and under the Company Act, 1965) that empowers and advocates for and with persons with disabilities (PWDs) for their sustainable development through community based rehabilitation (CBR).   

Vision:  A World Where All People with Disability have Equal Opportunities in Society.  

Mission:  To Empower and Advocate for and with Persons with Disabilities for their Sustainable  
    Development through the Community Based Rehabilitation Approach. 

    Values:

  • Partnership
  • Accountability
  • Team Spirit
  • Innovativeness
  • Transparency
  • Striving for Excellence
  • Sharing Knowledge

 

Background:

      In 1990 two Ugandan students studying in London became inspired to return to their homeland and establish a center to address the needs of people living with disabilities.  Thus, COMBRA was born, founded in 1990 with the initial motivation to train people working with PWDs as well as PWDs themselves in community based rehabilitation (CBR).  COMBRA’s founding members were motivated by the need to increase rehabilitation services, reduce societal attitude barriers, and enhance community participation through CBR. 

COMBRA is convinced that every human being has a right to a decent quality of life and equal opportunity in accessing social services.  She also advances the reality that each person can contribute towards nation building and therefore, should not be segregated against on the basis of gender, age, race, or existence of a disability. 

COMBRA has since emerged as a pioneer in CBR training and has gained a reputation as a center for excellence at home and abroad.  The key to her success has been the development of a vital human resource base necessary for the implementation of CBR, not only in Uganda, but for Africa at large.  The first pioneering CBR course was held in 1994 with only 12 students.  To date, the Organization has successfully trained over 250 CBR workers through 17 courses, 60 Community Development Assistants (CDAs) through 3 specially designed courses and conducted various short and tailor-made courses for students from over 10 African nations.  

As a proud member of the Ugandan disability fraternity, COMRA has also used its deep knowledge base in CBR to contribute to the development of guidelines, policies, training manuals and curricula for various aspects of disability at local, regional and governmental levels.

The Organization is proud to celebrate nearly 20 years of success in CBR via the promotion of dignity and self reliance for all.  Thank you for taking time to share in our experiences and we look forward to the coming years as we can continue to strive for excellence.