WHS 2016 – Atlas Alliance’ position paper to the Norwegian Government
Key Message:
All stakeholders need to ensure the human rights of persons with disabilities are protected in all humanitarian crises by taking the following measures:
Ø Ensure that persons with disabilities are actively engaged in the design, coordination, implementation and monitoring of humanitarian action[1]
Ø Ensure humanitarian policies, including policies on education in emergencies, are inclusive of persons with disabilities in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, especially articles 11, 19, 24 and 32
Ø Ensure persons with disabilities are included in all phases of humanitarian programming including in response plans, appeals mechanisms and needs assessments, reviews, reporting and evaluations.
Ø Support building capacity at all levels to implement policies on working with persons with disabilities
Ø Support humanitarian capacity development of persons with disabilities and their organisations in areas affected by conflicts and disasters, so that they are able provide a meaningful contribution to the coordination and implementation of the humanitarian response
Ø Support implementation of the minimum standards for age and disability inclusion in humanitarian action
Ø Ensure budgetary provisions for resources required to ensure that humanitarian response is universally accessible, including an allocation for special needs such as assistive technology
Ø Ensure UN agencies and NGOs operating humanitarian programmes provide disaggregated data on disability as part of reporting frameworks
Ø Invest in rigorous research on persons with disabilities in conflicts and emergencies, including access to education in emergencies.
Ø Investment in reliable data collection systems
Some facts[2]:
· 92 percent of humanitarian actors estimate that persons with disabilities are not properly taken into account in humanitarian response[3]
· Three-quarters of persons with disabilities affected by conflict and disaster report that they do not have adequate access to basic assistance such as water, shelter, food or health[4]
· There are more than 8 million displaced persons with disabilities globally due to conflicts and disasters
· Children and youth with disabilities are often in a particularly vulnerable situation with limited access to protection and education programmes.
· Studies have highlighted that children with disabilities are nearly twice as likely to be subjected to violence and abuse than their non-disabled peers.
· Conflicts and emergencies also increase the number of people who experience disability due to injuries, poor basic surgical and medical care, emergency induced mental health and psychological problems, abandonment, and breakdown in support structures and preventive health care[5]
· There is a lack of access to assistive technology and support schemes are limited or absent in emergency situations
· There is a huge knowledge and data gap on the situation of children with disabilities in humanitarian situations, in particular their access to education in emergencies programmes
1
[1] This is in line with the SFDRR 2015 – 2030: ”Persons with disabilities and their organizations are critical in the assessment of disaster risk and in designing and implementing plans tailored to specific requirements, taking into consideration, inter alia, the principles of universal design” (V. Role of stakeholders, para 36, a, iii) and the synthesis of the global WHS consultation that: “all those involved in humanitarian work should correct the neglect of older people, persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups; ensure their specific needs are met; and enable them to participate in decision-making”.
[2] UNCHR (2011) Need to know guidance, Working with persons with disabilities in forced displacement http://www.google.no/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCUQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.unhcr.org%2F4ec3c81c9.html&ei=Kp11VPSnK-n8ywPAgIGIBQ&usg=AFQjCNGAmFz1y6MJ3MDu8SzByUfwu2dVCw
UNICEF State of the World’s children 2013, http://www.unicef.org/sowc2013/files/SWCR2013_ENG_Lo_res_24_Apr_2013.pdf
Handicap International & HelpAge International (2014): Hidden victims of the Syrian crisis: disabled, injured and older refugees, http://www.helpage.org/newsroom/latest-news/hidden-victims-new-research-on-older-disabled-and-injured-syrian-refugees/
Women’s refugee commission (2008)
[3] Handicap International and the Norwegian MFA WHS study (2015): Disability in Humanitarian Contexts. Note that there is a strong commitment among humanitarian mainstream organisations to reverse this trend. This was confirmed by The Norwegian Association of Disabled 2015 Feasibility Study Disability inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction
[4] Ibid.
[5] Guidance note on disability and emergency risk management for health (2013)