Key terms

Protection mainstreaming,
sometimes called ‘safe programming’, is the “process of incorporating protection principles and promoting meaningful access, participation, accountability, safety and dignity in humanitarian aid”.156
Protection integration
involves “incorporating protection objectives into the programming of other sector-specific responses (i.e., beyond the protection sector response) to achieve protection outcomes”.157
Specific protection activities or specialized protection activities,
sometimes called ‘stand-alone interventions’, are specific activities that help people stay safe, recover from harm, and secure access to their rights.158 Humanitarian actors with specific protection expertise undertake these activities.159
‘Do no harm’
is an injunction to humanitarian organizations to act in ways that do not generate unintended negative consequences. They should avoid causing harm and minimize any harms that they may inadvertently cause because they are present and provide assistance. Humanitarian actors need to be aware of and take steps to minimize harms associated with their presence and activity.160
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Diagram 11 Barriers to access and inclusion in protection

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Flow chart depicting how impacts of the crisis are exacerbated for persons with disabilities in protection. Impact of the crisis include insecurity, breakdown of social networks, destruction of infrastructure displacement, abandonment, closure of services. These impacts are exacerbated by barriers in the response including:

Environmental barriers:

  • - Inaccessible protection services due to distance and inaccessible infrastructure and roads networks
  • - Inaccessible reporting procedures (e.g. for GBV and PSEA)
  • - Lack of outreach or accessible information regarding protection of rights, access to justice and reparations

Attitudinal barriers:

  • - Negative attitudes and stigma against persons with disabilities and their rights
  • - Lack of awareness about legal capacity of persons with disabilities to participate in decision-making and provide informed consent

Institutional barriers:

  • - Limited technical and financial capacity to promote inclusion of persons with disabilities and protection of their rights
  • - Justice mechanisms are not accessible to persons with disabilities
  • - Inaccessible registration systems resulting in denial of legal status for persons with disabilities
  • - Lack of accurate data on persons with disabilities

The barriers in the response result in risk faced by persons with disabilities including violence, poverty, environmental hazards deterioration of health, exclusion, isolation, denial of rights.

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