Resources search

Empowering Kenyan women and girls with disabilities in managing menstrual health

UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND (UNFPA)
June 2021

Expand view

The partnership of UNFPA with This-Ability Trust, an organization that advances disability rights and inclusion by working with groups, to improve access to sexual and reproductive health information and services for women and girls with disabilities is reported. The partnership, which has reached 12,000 people in eight counties, also educates both recipients and caregivers on menstrual health management when distributing dignity kits with washable sanitary pads. The report highlights Mombasa-based Ms. Wanjiru who runs a group for persons with disabilities that includes a programme on sexuality for young women, whose families and caregivers are often uncomfortable discussing menstrual hygiene

Accessibility audit costing

BROWN, Simon
SCOTT-PARKER, Susan
2021

Expand view

This excel sheet provides organisations a structured method to disaplay recommended activities for ensuring accessibility.

Menstrual Hygiene Management: Challenges and Coping Strategies for Adolescents with Disabilities in the Kumasi Metro of Ghana

Enoch, Acheampong
Nadutey, Alberta
Afful, Barbara Fosua
Anokye, Reindolf
2020

Expand view

Purpose: Effective menstrual hygiene management is vital to the health, well- being, dignity, empowerment, mobility and productivity of girls and women. This study was conducted to ascertain menstrual hygiene management challenges and coping strategies of adolescents with disabilities in the Kumasi Metro of Ghana.

 

Method: An exploratory study design with qualitative approach was employed to select 18 participants. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, and then transcribed and categorised into specific themes.

 

Results: Females with visual impairment had difficulty in maintaining good menstrual hygiene because of problems in detecting menstrual blood, inability to fix sanitary pads appropriately and wash underwear properly, and anxiety and stress from not knowing whether their period has started. The problems of those with physical impairment were related to inaccessible washrooms, long hours of being seated on the part of wheelchair-users, and difficulty in fixing sanitary pads for those with upper limb impairment. For those with hearing impairment, the main challenge was the communication barrier between them and their significant others whenever they needed help.

 

Conclusion: There are common challenges faced by all girls across the globe with regard to menstrual hygiene management. Adolescent females with disability however face additional challenges with regard to MHM. Those with physical disability encounter accessibility challenges, while the main challenge for the deaf and those with speech problems is communication. The visually impaired live in anxiety due to fear of staining their clothes.

Disability inclusive health, WASH and livelihoods in the COVID-19 response - Thematic guidance notes

AUSTRALIAN HUMANITARIAN PARTNERSHIP (AHP)
September 2020

Expand view

Practical guidance has been developed for disability inclusion within the priority sectors of Health, WASH, and Livelihoods and Food Security. This guidance has been developed to inform the AHP Disaster READY program and COVID-19 humanitarian response efforts, and contribute to sectoral understanding of inclusive humanitarian response and disaster preparedness.

Disability Debrief: an international update on persons with disabilities in the COVID-19 crisis

TORRES FREMLIN, Peter
September 2020

Expand view

This is an update on disability news around the world relating to the COVID-19 crisis, from late April to the end of September 2020. It's a snapshot of news, statistics, policy, and experiences of persons with disabilities around the world. Links are prvided to the original resources.

 

Topics covered include:

  • What has happended so far: Data on COVID-19 and mortality; Care homes and institutional settings; Impact on persons with disabilities; Gathering data and the gaps; Experiences of Persons with Disabilities
  • Disability in response; International response: Collections of resources; Country and Regional Approaches; Resources by disability
  • Inclusion in protection and interim measures; Masks / face coverings; Physical distancing and isolation; Lockdown and confinement; Institutions and long-term care facilities; Coming out of lockdown; Social protection and services
  • Health, treatment and recovery
  • Across society and sectors: Care; Culture and sport; Digital accessibility and inclusion; Education and young people; Elections and politics; Humanitarian and Refugees; International cooperation; Justice; Mental Health; Transportation and travel; Violence; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); Work and skills
  • Rebuilding / what happens next; New perspectives and recovery; Social protection; Work and employment

 

Pivoting to inclusion : Leveraging lessons from the COVID-19 crisis for learners with disabilities

McCLAIN-NHALPO,Charlotte Vuyiswa
KULBIR SINGH,Ruchi
MARTIN,Anna Hill
et al
August 2020

Expand view

As governments respond to the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the global community must ensure that persons with disabilities are included. This will require disability inclusion to be considered in all interconnected sectors; education, health, social protection, and inclusion from the planning stage all the way through to delivery and recovery efforts that are inclusive of all and are sufficiently differentiated to meet the specific needs of children with disabilities. The issues paper focuses on the following objectives: (1) addressing education, social needs, barriers, and issues for learners with disabilities at a global, regional, and country-level during the COVID-19 crisis; and (2) recommending practices for education and social inclusion, and reasonable accommodations utilizing the twin track approach and principles of universal design for learning.

Neglected and forgotten: women with disabilities during Covid crisis in India

GOYAL, Nidhi
RAGHAVAN, Srinidhi
KOTHARI, Ketan
July 2020

Expand view

This report is a collaborative initiative of Rising Flame and Sightsavers to respond to the urgent needs of women with disabilities in India during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The aim of this research was to capture and amplify voices and narratives of women with disabilities  and to make strong recommendations to ensure inclusion of women with disabilities in social, legal, policy and systemic responses.

Online and telephonic research consultations were carried out in May 2020,  within the barriers faced or accommodations needed by participants, including access to internet, the need for sign language interpretation and the establishment of a safe space. A total of 82 women with disabilities and 12 experts across 19 states and nine self-identified disability groups participated in the research.

Broadly, the study is divided into access, food and essentials, social protection, health, hygiene and sanitation, education, employment and livelihood, domestic violence and emotional well-being. The study explores the ongoing barriers experienced by women across disabilities and makes recommendations to build back a better and more inclusive world.

Operationalizing standards: Sphere and the COVID-19 response in camp settings

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONALS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND PROTECTION (PHAP)
April 2020

Expand view

In this webinar, organized by the CCCM Cluster and PHAP, we learn about COVID-19 prevention measures critical to the work of Camp Managers and others working in displacement settings. We hear from WASH specialists, as well as experienced Camp program staff who have recently been involved in setting up special measures to prevent the spread of disease and develop key messages for populations living in temporary settlements. A representative from Sphere also provided guidance for how the Sphere Handbook can be a useful tool for practitioners in this situation.

Applying humanitarian standards to fight COVID-19

SPHERE
April 2020

Expand view

Contents of this short brief include:

  • Sphere Standards
  • The Core Humanitarian Standard
  • The Humanitarian Standards Partnership
  • Cash Assistance
  • Inclusion of older people and people with disabilities
  • Education in Emergencies
  • Child Protection
  • Markets and Economic Recovery 

Putting equality, inclusion and rights at the centre of a COVID-19 water, sanitation and hygiene response

NATH, Priya
GOSLING, Louisa
April 2020

Expand view

Issues of gender inequality and of vulnerability of marginalised people (those with chronic health issues and those living with disabilities) in the context of WASH and emergencies are highlighted.

Ways in which responses to the COVID-19 emergency can mitigate both existing and new vulnerabilities are proposed. A list of "dos and don'ts" is provided.

Somalia Disability Inclusive COVID-19 WASH tip sheet

Humanity & Inclusion
April 2020

Expand view

This tip sheet provides an overview of the factors that may put persons with disabilities at heightened risk in the COVID-19 pandemic and response in humanitarian settings; and proposes actions to address these risks within the COVID WASH response.

The Sphere standards and the Coronavirus response

SPHERE
2020

Expand view

Sphere reviewed emerging practices in the Coronavirus outbreak response and released a 4-page document guiding you through the relevant parts of the Sphere Handbook. The document outlines the underlying principles and the importance of community engagement, as well as a detailed review of the relevant technical guidance in the WASH and Health chapter

Summary report on considering disability and ageing in COVID-19 hygiene promotion programmes

WILBUR, Jane
2020

Expand view

Direct consequences and the secondary impacts of COVID-19 on people with disabilities, older adults and older adults with disabilities are outlined. General issues concerning disability, ageing and WASH access are also outlined. Specific barriers which people with disabilities, older adults and older adults with disabilities face in relation to handwashing with soap are highlighted. The World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and HelpAge International have all developed guidance on how to involve people with disabilities and older adults in COVID-19 response programs. This blog summarises these ideas and explains how they can be applied within hygiene programmes specifically. 

IASC Guidelines, Inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action

INTER-AGENCY STANDING COMMITTEE (IASC)
November 2019

Expand view

The guidelines set out essential actions that humanitarian actors must take in order to effectively identify and respond to the 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 actors and as members of affected populations. They are specific to persons with disabilities and to the context of humanitarian action and build on existing and more general standards and guidelines.

These are the first humanitarian guidelines to be developed with and by persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in association with traditional humanitarian stakeholders. Based on the outcomes of a comprehensive global and regional multi-stakeholder consultation process, they are designed to promote the implementation of quality humanitarian programmes in all contexts and across all regions, and to establish and increase both the inclusion of persons with disabilities and their meaningful participation in all decisions that concern them.

Unimproved water sources and open defecation are associated with active trachoma in children in internally displaced persons camps in the Darfur States of Sudan

MACLEOD, C K
October 2019

Expand view

To estimate the proportion of children with trachomatous inflammation—follicular (TF) and adults with trachomatous trichiasis (TT) in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in the Darfur States of Sudan and to evaluate associated risk factors. 

A random-effects hierarchical model was used to evaluate factors associated with TF and TT. Thirty-six IDP camps were represented in the survey data in which 1926 children aged 1–9 years were examined, of whom 38 (8%) had TF. Poor sanitation, younger age and living in a household that purchased water from a vendor were associated with TF in children aged 1–9 years.

 

Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2019 Oct 11;113(10):599-609

DOI:10.1093/trstmh/trz042

Integrating face washing into a school-based, handwashing behavior change program to prevent trachoma in Turkana, Kenya

TIDWELL, James
et al
August 2019

Expand view

Trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness, and facial cleanliness has been associated with reduced odds of trachomatous inflammation and Chlamydia trachomatis infection.  This study reports on the results of a program integrating face washing into a school-based handwashing promotion program in Turkana County, Kenya

 

American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2019 Oct;101(4):767-773

doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.19-0205.

What are the key considerations for including people with disabilities in COVID-19 hygiene promotion programmes?

WILBUR, Jane
HUNT, Xanthe
August 2019

Expand view

Question & problem

People with disabilities may be more likely to acquire COVID-19, and if infected may be more likely to experience serious symptoms, or die. Aside from those consequences of the pandemic related to morbidity and mortality, people with disabilities are often reliant on carers to aid with common daily tasks, and so social distancing measures may be unfeasible. Furthermore, safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services and facilities may be inaccessible to people with disabilities, and, in many settings, efforts to deliver services in a socially-distanced world have resulted in the roll out of digital or remote healthcare approaches which are sometimes not accessible or inclusive. One of the key interventions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been international attention, and improved funding, programming and media messaging in support of WASH. People with disabilities – who are most at risk of negative consequences of COVID-19 – most need access to such interventions. Yet, WASH access is considered to be one of the biggest challenges of daily life for many people with disabilities.

Pages

E-bulletin