What are the guidelines about?

The guidelines set out essential actions that humanitarian actors must take in order to effectively identify and respond tothe needs and rights of persons with disabilities who are most at risk of being left behind in humanitarian settings.

The recommended actions in each chapter place persons with disabilities at the centre of humanitarian action, both as actorsand as members of affected populations. They are specific to persons with disabilities and to the context of humanitarianaction and build on existing and more general standards and guidelines, including the Core Humanitarian Standard, Sphere Handbook and Humanitarian inclusion standards for older people and people with disabilities. These are the first humanitarian guidelines to be developed with and by persons with disabilities and their representativeorganizations in association with traditional humanitarian stakeholders. Based on the outcomes of a comprehensive global andregional multi-stakeholder consultation process, they are designed to promote the implementation of quality humanitarian programmesin all contexts and across all regions, and to establish and increase both the inclusion of persons with disabilities andtheir meaningful participation in all decisions that concern them.

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Diagram 1 The four objectives of the guidelines

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Diagram depicting the 4 primary objectives of the guidelines:

  1. Guidance: To provide practical guidance on including persons with disabilities in humanitarian programming and coordination.
  2. Capacity: To increase capacity among humanitarian stakeholders to develop and implement quality programmes that are inclusive of persons with disabilities.
  3. Accountability: To describe the roles and responsibilities of humanitarian stakeholders to include persons with disabilities in humanitarian action (see: Who are the guidelines for?)
  4. Participation: To increase and improve the participation of persons with disabilities and organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) in preparedness, response and recovery.

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