Who are we?

600 million people with disabilities worldwide.
Among them, 200 million have a mental or psychic.
The weakest and most vulnerable children and adults are excluded from most of the rights and freedoms in many countries.

Because respect for the dignity of any person, is a right for all people in all countries, Friends of the Workshop was in 2006, the proponent of a International network of reciprocal exchange of experiences and knowledge about intellectual disability and mental.

"The Special Rapporteur on the monitoring of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities stressed the need for systematic exchange of experiences and ideas. "
Extract from the evaluation of the Programme of Action UN World for people with disabilities - 2003.

This network is open, free, open to all and based on voluntary contributions of its members.

The project
Create a dynamic exchange between the international associations through the sharing and accumulation of ideas, information and experiences.
This creation is intended to contribute to a better realization of the rights of the mentally handicapped and mentally of any country.

This project has received support from Ms. Hessa Al Thani, UN Special Representative for disability from 2003 to 2009 "After meeting his host, and a review of the website, I realize the value of such a site and its importance in setting bond disability around the world. I am very impressed by this work and I intend to start to put online some of our research and documentation. " 

The approach  
An international network based on two bases:

to The establishment of partnerships:
Organize interpersonal exchanges, meetings, both professionals, employees or volunteers that the disabled.

toWebsite:
Can share knowledge, practices, experiences and information, nationally and internationally. A technical platform open source can benefit all working together.
Sharing a pooled database that members have the opportunity to learn and to which any visitor can access. The resource is copyright free, subject to be marked to indicate the contributor and the link to the original.


Steps

Project in 5 years: generate around the Friends of the Workshop, 25 partnerships in 25 countries, which each give rise to several others, in the spirit of the charter of the network.
Project to 10 years: Identify and link to associations of most of the 180 countries of the world, thanks to the relay federations and regional and global bodies.

To date: 99 members from 28 different countries, 11 and 7 partnerships formed under development.

The association initiated the network

Friends of the Workshop
Medico-social
serving people
experiencing mental handicap and mental

www.lesamisdelatelier.org

Contact: Denis Pelsy
d.pelsy @ lesamisdelatelier.org                       
2 Avenue of the Amazon
91940 Les Ulis,
France
Phone: 01 64 86 41 19