The Inter-Agency Standing Committee released Guidelines on the ‘Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action’ in July 2019, which set out necessary actions that humanitarian actors must take to effectively recognize and respond to the needs of persons with disabilities.
The humanitarian guidelines are the first to be developed with and by people with disabilities and their representative organizations in association with traditional humanitarian stakeholders.
In line with the Guidelines objectives, the brochure ‘Good Practices Brochure: Intersection of Gender and Disability in Humanitarian Responses‘ aims to provide practical guidance on including persons with disabilities and their families in humanitarian programming and coordination by highlighting four case studies that illustrate good practices and examples in humanitarian settings in Asia and the Pacific.
Women and girls with these underlying risks and vulnerabilities often suffer from a greater impact of COVID-19. In the recent Policy Brief on ‘A Disability-Inclusive Response to COVID 19’ the United Nations highlighted that people with disabilities are at greater risk of contracting the coronavirus and developing more severe health conditions. Due to exclusion and discrimination, they are facing difficulties in accessing health care and life-saving procedures during the pandemic, and they are particularly disadvantaged by the socioeconomic consequences of COVID-19.
The Asia-Pacific Gender produced the Humanitarian Action Working Group brochure, co-chaired by UN Women, CARE International, and OCHA. This work has been made possible by supplementary funding from the Government of Japan.
