At OIFE’s Annual General Assembly on June 10th, we were happy to announce that the OIFE Board has accepted the membership application from the NGO CLAN (Caring & Living as Neighbours), to become a supporting member of OIFE. CLAN is an Australian-based, not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation (NGO).

Who is CLAN?

CLAN was founded in 2004 and has been in formal association with the United Nations Department of Global Communications since 2010, and in Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC since 2018. CLAN’s mission is to maximize quality of life for children and their families who are living with chronic health conditions, such as OI, in resource-poor settings of the world. The organization was founded by Mrs. Kate Armstrong, who is still the President of the organization.

CLAN takes a right based, grass root community development model that provides a strategic framework for action based on 5 pillars:

• Ensure affordable access to medication and equipment
• Education, research and advocacy
• Optimal medical management
• Encourage family support groups
• Reduce poverty and promote financial independence

CLAN and OI

Over the years CLAN has had the great privilege to connect and work with the OI-community across different countries including Pakistan, Philippines, Fiji and Indonesia. YOu can read more about the work CLAN is doing for OI here.

Wishbone Day 2023 in Indonesia

For Wishbone Day 2023, members of FOSTEO the Indonesian OI-community celebrated this day for the first time since 2018. This was also supported by CLAN and the NGO YKAG, an NGO in Indonesia. There was an education seminar for parents and a Q&A session, fun painting class for children and a sharing session led by six parents of children living with OI. Click HERE to access CLAN’s report on the 2023 Wishbone Day celebration in Jakarta, Indonesia in conjunction with FOSTEO.

OI child friendly rights flyer

In preparation for the event Téa La worked with YKAG and FOSTEO to organize to help with logistics and help with an OI educational booklet as well. Leading up to Wishbone Day, CLAN developed an OI child friendly rights flyer, which supports advocacy efforts and help children and young people better understand their basic human rights. None of this could have been possible without the ongoing help and support of the international OI-community. The flyer is available in English, Indonesian and Korean language and can be downloaded from this page for free.

Introduction video to CLAN

Watch Development Officer Téa La give an introduction to who CLAN is and what they do. The video was first shown on OIFE’s AGM on June 10th 2023.