The AfriCAN conference,1 of the Community Based Rehabilitation African Network, in Oct 26–29 in Abuja, Nigeria, has been chosen to launch the new guidelines on community-based rehabilitation2 that aim to improve the lives of the estimated 650 million people living with a disability, with over 80% of these residing in low-income countries and most being greatly impoverished.3 The development of these guidelines is a considerable, and impressively inclusive, achievement. They have evolved through wide consultation, including the International Disability and Development Consortium (a global consortium of 25 international non-governmental organisations), International Labour Organization, UNESCO, and WHO's Disability and Rehabilitation Team. The guidelines have five major components: health, education, livelihood, social development, and empowerment (figure). They also focus on community-based rehabilitation in some special scenarios, including HIV/AIDS, leprosy, mental health, and in crisis situations. The guidelines recognise that chronic and acute episodes of illness, congenital and accident-related impairments, and mental health problems all constitute a huge swathe of difficulties in human functioning and require (re)habilitation to enable people to live in and contribute to their community.