What are the SFD’s main activities?
Through a permanent presence or regular visits to the assisted projects, the SFD’s prosthetists carry out three types of activity:

• ensuring the production of a significant number of orthopaedic appliances in the rehabilitation centres so that the disabled can be served within a reasonable time limit;
• developing and maintaining a high standard of quality in the production of prostheses and other orthopaedic devices;
• training local counterparts, aiming at internationally recognized professional standards.

One of the characteristics of the SFD is its two-pronged approach, both patient-oriented and structure oriented. The assistance should lead to increased accessibility of patients to services and to increased organizational capacity of the service provider. Due to financial limitations of the SFD, the local partner should already have a certain degree of managerial, technical and financial autonomy before the assistance is started.
In 2007, the SFD provided material, financial, technical and training support to 58 projects in 28 countries.

According to the specific situation, a combination of the following three types of assistance is applied.

Technical assistance consist of usually short missions to assisted projects by the SFD expatriate orthoprosthetist or physiotherapist to:

• coach the national personnel
• introduce / consolidate the use of polypropylene technology
• help establish patient service protocols, based on in-house guidelines
• help develop a cost recovery strategy
• promote physiotherapy

In 2007, the SFD organized 69 technical support/monitoring visits to most assisted centres, which lasted between one and four weeks.


Financial assistance consists of:

• material donations to assisted centres
• reimbursements to centres or patients for provided patient services

In 2007, the SFD contributed to the rehabilitation of close to 15,000 persons worldwide, including the fitting of 8,970 prostheses and 9,752 orthoses. Overall, twenty-five percent of the assisted amputees were mine victims, with especially high percentages in Viet Nam and Nicaragua.


Training assistance

• short courses in technology, management and physiotherapy
• sponsorships of students to recognised schools

In 2007, the SFD organized 24 specific refresher courses lasting one to four weeks for 153 participants; organized 4 seminars lasting one to two weeks for 116 participants; and sponsored scholarships for 22 students to attend multi-year prosthetic/orthotic training courses at 6 regional schools.



The ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled Programmes 2008: 29 countries / 61 projects - See map (PDF)

Where does the SFD work?
The Fund operates mainly out of three regional bases in Ethiopia (for Africa), in Vietnam (for Asia) and in Nicaragua (for Latin America). The project in Albania is followed ex-Geneva.

Africa. Since the beginning of the nineties, the SFD operates a regional training centre at the prosthetic/orthotics centre (POC) in Addis Ababa. The POC is a local foundation with participation of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and it is one of the ICRC’s oldest partners.
The SFD organizes some 12 courses per year of one month duration for up to 6 persons at a time. Courses aim mainly to familiarise ortho prosthetists of developed and developing countries with the clinical application of thermoformable plastics and polypropylene components, the main technique adopted by the ICRC. Since 1995, more than 450 technicians from centres mainly in Africa were trained by the SFD. In addition, the SFD organises technical seminars in regional prosthetics and orthotics schools. Some six expatriate experts are based in Addis Ababa, conducting the courses and organising regular follow-up visits to some 30 assisted SFD projects elsewhere in Africa. The SFD assistance benefits yearly over 8'000 beneficiaries (2007 figures).
Ethiopia Training Information Documents (in PDF format): Welcome Paper, Information Sheet.
See also the Feature article: ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled: teaching does the most good.

Asia. The SFD started assisting the rehabilitation centre in Ho Chi Minh City following the ICRC's departure in the late eighties. In addition to assuring continuity of services at this centre for destitute persons with disabilities, SFD support was progressively extended to other centres in Vietnam, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Action and with the Vietnamese Red Cross. The latter is actively involved in identification, referral and follow-up of patients. The SFD assistance is now provided at a national scale, covering more than 90% of the national area. In addition, the two orthoprosthetists based in Ho Chi Minh City also support projects in BanglaDesh, India and Laos. The SFD benefits yearly over 8'500 patients (2007 figures).

Latin America. Since the beginning of the ninetees, the SFD has supported the former ICRC orthopaedic workshop in Managua, CENAPRORTO. The Centre is managed by the Ministry of Health and it went through a successful reorganization starting 2000. To meet demands, the SFD opened an additional centre in 2005, CAPADIFE, in close collaboration with the local foundation Walking Unidos. The SFD, based in Managua, also supports other rehabilitation centres in the region, e.g. in El Salvador, Peru and in Cuba. The SFD assistance benefits yearly over 1'400 patients (2007 figures).