How to innovate for inclusion

Since its inception, the Groupe AMH has been fostering the inclusion of physically impaired people. We quickly understood that dealing with this issue implies adopting a holistic approach. Physical handicap not only implies stiff consequences on health and mobility: it also has a deep impact on the economic and social situation of the individual.

The founders of the NGO were driven by the will to fill in the huge institutional void that existed in the early 1990s. The issue of handicap was a green field, thus everything had to be done. The best possible way to promote the rights of our beneficiaries is through showcasing successful projects that aimed at creating products and services to promote a holistic inclusion (social, economic and professional) of our beneficiaries.

Designing and implementing impact-orientated projects has been our modus operandi since then, aiming at influencing our direct external environment.  In most cases, we were pioneers, which provided with a huge liability: our success rallied other players, thus enhancing the impact of our action for the greater good.

In this line of thought, the Groupe AMH had to face the total absence of relevant and adequate infrastructure, among which, healthcare facilities (i.e. rehabilitation centers). Inclusion is strongly linked to the physical autonomy of the individual.  Hence, the idea came to build and manage the first rehabilitation center in Morocco, the “Noor Center”, which has now been running for 14 years and boasts capacity of 80 beds.  It is also the biggest center of the kind in Africa

Challenges were growing as long as the project proved its efficiency and economic viability. In Morocco, there is a strong correlation between poverty and handicap. We successfully managed to democratize our services in the Casablanca region where we are located.

Achieving a perfect cross-subsidize model required from us to work on the “payers side”, which are mostly insurance companies (we call them today, our “partners”). As the issue of handicap had very limited exposure in the public space, insurance companies were not sensitive to the importance of its medical aspects. Thus, we had to educate our partners on the importance of our services and urged them to include them in their reimbursement list. It took us time, energy and negotiation efforts to fulfill this goal.

The Noor Center is for the Groupe AMH a complete case on how to carry out a successful project, influence the whole ecosystem and promote a cause while having concrete impact on the ground.

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Author: Amina Slaoui is President of Groupe AMH. Hamza El Mounhi is the Managing director of Groupe AMH.

Image: A woman carries her daughter on her wheelchair as they cross a road near their home in Tel Aviv May 16, 2012. REUTERS/Nir Elias