Key elements – must do
‘Must do’ actions must be undertaken in all phases of humanitarian action when implementing shelter and settlement programmingfor persons with disabilities.
Participation
- Make sure that persons with disabilities, their families, and organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) participate in identifying barriers that impede access for persons with disabilities, and in planning, designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating shelter and settlements.
- Ensure that persons with disabilities are fairly represented, taking into account the various forms of disability as well as age, gender and diversity. Make concerted efforts to promote underrepresented groups, including persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, indigenous persons, women and girls in formal and informal activities, decision-making and governance.
- Involve persons with disabilities in the development of community participation mechanisms, and feedback and complaint mechanisms, to ensure effective and barrier- free access.
Addressing barriers
- Identify and monitor barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from accessing emergency relief, and measures that improve access. Provide reasonable accommodations and organize outreach to facilitate full inclusion of persons with disabilities.
- Use universal design principles to design shelters and plan settlements. Create shaded or sheltered community spaces that are appropriate for the climatic conditions.
- Provide all assessment and reporting tools, and all information and communications on shelter and settlement in multiple accessible formats, taking into account persons with hearing, visual, intellectual and psychosocial disabilities.
- Implement strategies to reduce disability-related stigma. Take steps to make the community more aware of the rights of persons with disabilities. Establish peer-support groups that include self-advocates with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities.
- Review sectoral policies, guidelines and tools to ensure that they clearly affirm the right of persons with disabilities to access and inclusion.
Empowerment and capacity development
- Build the capacity of shelter and settlement staff. Provide training on the rights of persons with disabilities and the interactions between disability and gender, age, migration status, religion and sexuality.
- Build the capacity of OPDs to engage with shelter and settlement agencies, identify tools and resources, map challenges, capacities and priorities, build knowledge of humanitarian aid and strengthen coordination.
- Partner with OPDs and persons with disabilities to develop and deliver training.
Data collection and monitoring
- Collect and analyse shelter and settlement data on persons with disabilities; disaggregate the data by sex, age and disability. Do this systematically across the humanitarian programme cycle. Where reliable data are not available or cannot be collected, use the 15 per cent estimate of global disability prevalence.
- Ensure that persons with disabilities and OPDs are included as key informants about barriers and enablers. Informants should also be sensitive to wider issues, such as age and gender.
The recommended actions below follow a twin-track approach. They ensure that persons with disabilities have equal rights andopportunities to shelter and settlements and can contribute to efforts to remove barriers and promote comprehensive inclusionand effective and meaningful participation.