Resources

A technical workshop considering issues related to collecting data on persons with disabilities in humanitarian contexts was organized jointly by UNICEF, Handicap International[1], the International Disability Alliance, the Washington Group on Disability Statistics and UNHCR was held in New York on 11-12 December 2017. It brought over forty specialists in humanitarian action together with statisticians with expertise in collecting data on persons with disability, representatives from organizations of persons with disabilities (or DPOs) and United Nations agencies.

This was the first meeting of its kind that sought to build bridges between the different communities who share a common interest to improve humanitarian action for persons with disabilities, but who bring very different skill sets and perspectives into the conversation. 

Main objectives of the event were to create a common foundation on needs and entry points for data on persons with disabilities, to discuss experiences from the field, to consider different humanitarian action scenarios; and to come up with priority recommendations for next steps. 

Please read more about the discussions in the attached Report, which is also due to inform the Guidelines on inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action. Data issues will be discussed in the TT Working Group on "inter-agency coordination". In case you wish to sign-up to participate or contribute to this discussion, please contact the IASC TT secretariat. 

The outcomes of a multi-stakeholder workshop held in Geneva in October 20171 included a draft
outline of the IASC guidelines. The outline together with a draft 0 of the guidelines (not for circulation)
were provided to the participants and used as a trigger for discussion.

The sessions were interactive and primarily organised around working groups that were tasked to
discuss the different parts of the guidelines and respond to a number of questions that have been
integrated into the guidelines’ draft 02 .Participants were also instructed to use regional / national
experiences and practices to inform their discussions and many examples were shared and discussed
within groups, ensuring that exchanges and responses to the questions were evidenced-based.

On both days, time was dedicated to the presentation of Pacific experiences. Five DPOs and two
humanitarian stakeholders shared their practices with the participants. These presentations were
conducted in a town hall format with a short introduction of the situation and then open discussion
with the room. The presentations were very much appreciated by the participants as background
information and setting the scene of the regional context related to inclusion of persons with
disabilities in humanitarian action.

Read the Pacific Disability Forum media release about the event 

See the attached report for full details on the outcomes of the discussions and the resulting recommandations. 

View the Pacific consultation photo gallery  (photos courtesy of Pacific Disability Forum) 

How to Support the Development of the IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities ? 

There are different ways to support the development of the IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities:

• By Joining the IASC Task Team on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities which meets (virtually) on a monthly basis;
• By helping to disseminate and by completing the global online survey launched on 08 February (see separate document on this website)
• By taking part to regional consultations being conducted in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Africa and Latin America regions (the first one, in the Pacific, already took place - please refer to the "Meetings" section of this webpage for more information);
• By contributing to thematic / expert / review groups that will draft sectoral chapters in the guidelines;
• By testing the draft guidelines with field staff and partners; and,
• By providing financial and technical resources to the guidelines development process.

Please see more information in the three INFORMATION SHEETS below : 

1. Summary of the work plan for the development of the Guidelines
2. Call for contributions, describing in more details what kind of contributions the Task Team is  looking for in terms of offers of personal /staff time; sharing of existing knowledge and tools, as well as financial contributions. 
3. Overview of the Collection of promising/ good practices and existing resources and knowledge (guidelines, policy frameworks, data collection tools, checklists, practical examples, sucess stories, case studies, etc).

Further information sheets are being considered.

To suggest topics of interest, please contact iascdisability@gmail.com  

In follow-up to the Charter launched during the World Humanitarian Summit, and the ongoing work to develop globally-endorsed UN system-wide guidelines on the inclusion of persons with disabilities, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Team on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action is conducting a series of regional consultations.

In order to reach out to a significant number of participants, both from the humanitarian sector and from organizations of persons with disabilities that will inform the development of the Guidelines content , the Task Team also took the opportunity of the HNPW to launch a global online survey.

The aim of the survey is to seek opinions from a wide range of stakeholders from across the globe on how to improve inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action and to ensure that these perspectives are considered during the development of the  IASC Guidelines.

The survey is composed of two distinct parts. All survey participants will respond to the first part (general questions) and then be able to select and respond only to questions about their sector of expertise within the second part.

It will take about 15 minutes to complete the first part and more or less 15 minutes for each selected sector.

The survey will be open until March 10, 2018.

The IASC Task Team thanks you for taking the time to respond to the survey and for your valuable contribution to the development of the IASC guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action.  We would also be very grateful if you could further share the attached information sheet within your networks.

Link to the survey : www.humanitariandisabilityguidelines.org

In case of need for further clarifications or information, please do not hesitate to contact  iascdisability@gmail.com. We would also be most grateful to receive information at the same email address about the organizations or networks you’ve shared the survey with.