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Including children with disabilities in humanitarian action

UNICEF
July 2017

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"The purpose of Including Children with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action is to strengthen the inclusion of children and women with disabilities, and their families, in emergency preparedness, response and early recovery, and recovery and reconstruction. This series of booklets provides insight into the situation of children with disabilities in humanitarian contexts, highlights the ways in which they are excluded from humanitarian action, and offers practical actions and tips to better include children and adolescents with disabilities in all stages of humanitarian action. The booklets were created in response to UNICEF colleagues in the field expressing a need for a practical resource to guide their work. The information and recommendations are based on evidence and good practices gathered from literature and field staff experiences. The six booklets on how to include children and adolescents with disabilities in humanitarian programmes are as follows: 1) general guidance; 2) child protection; 3) education; 4) health and HIV/AIDS; 5) nutrition; 6) water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)".

General guidance available July 2017. Others to follow.

In addition to the PDF versions in English, Arabic and French, the guidance is also available in a range of accessible formats, including EPUB, a Braille-ready file and accessible HTML formats. 

The guidance was developed in collaboration with Handicap International.

Writing the rights : highlighting the international standards on the rights of victims of armed violence

ČEVRA, Nerina
HUNTER, Jane
March 2014

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This report is an analysis of international and regional legal and policy provisions on the rights of victims of armed violence. This study highlights different themes related to the rights of victims of armed violence and notes the evolving trends or emerging (or existent) norms evident in international law and policy relating to that particular theme. It is aimed at scholars, advocates, activists and government representatives working to further the rights of victims of armed violence as an international policy agenda. The report concludes that much more needs to be done by states to ensure that the rights of all victims of armed violence are protected and that assistance is provided in a way that addresses victims’ particular circumstances and specific needs

Booklet 1 : understanding children’s wellbeing

SAVE THE CHILDREN
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support
May 2012

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"This booklet can be used as a stand-alone resource or as part of the children’s resilience programme. It has been written for parents, teachers, community workers, trainers - both those people who are directly caring for children and those who are supporting or training others in their work with children. It looks at psychosocial support and child protection, and describes how activities in the children’s resilience programme can be used both within formal school settings and out of school in all kinds of child friendly spaces"
Part of "The children’s resilience programme : psychosocial support in and out of school" by the IFRC Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support and Save the Children

Caring for child survivors of sexual abuse : guidelines for health and psychosocial service providers in humanitarian settings

INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE (IRC)
2012

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These guidelines provide step-by-step guidance on how to implement the main aspects of the Caring for Child Survivors (CCS) Program Model. It is the "how-to" guide for instructing health and psychosocial field staff responding to children who have experienced sexual abuse. The guidelines include multiple tools for monitoring and evaluating the program model, such as: knowledge and skills competency assessments and case management monitoring and evaluation tools
The guidelines are part of The CCS Resource Package which is based on global research on child sexual abuse and evidence from field practice. The CCS Resource Package is a comprehensive and practical approach to help child survivors and their families recover and heal from the impacts of sexual abuse. The three main components are an in-depth literature review, CCS Program Model and the CCS Guidelines

Water, sanitation and hygiene for schoolchildren in emergencies : a guidebook for teachers

UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S FUND (UNICEF)
November 2011

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"WASH in Schools aims to support the provision of safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities, and promotes lifelong health for children and their families...This guidebook is a resource for those involved in teaching and working with children in emergency preparedness, during an emergency and throughout the recovery period. It provides simple strategies for use and adaptation with all children and families to ensure a smooth and healthy transition to a healthy and accessible learning environment...The guidebook provides the information needed to ensure that every child knows about water, sanitation and hygiene. It is not a technical book about installing taps and building toilets. Instead it provides guidance on safe WASH behaviours that help children, families and teachers stay healthy and avoid life threatening diseases. Every emergency and child-friendly space or school is different, so the suggestions and ideas provided should be adapted to suit the local situation"
Note: a book of flashcards is available as a companion to the guidebook. Although this guidebook’s pictures were created for the Africa region, flashcard sets for Asia and Latin America are also available from the website

Early child development kit : a treasure box of activities

UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S FUND (UNICEF)
2009

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"The Early Childhood Development Kit was created to strengthen the response for young children caught in conflict or emergencies. In complement to basic services related to young children's hygiene and sanitation, health and nutrition, protection and education, the Kit offers young children access to play, stimulation and early learning opportunities and permits them to retrieve a sense of normalcy"

Introduction to child protection in emergencies : an interagency modular training package|Child protection in emergencies training and resource CD : psychosocial module

CHILD PROTECTION WORKING GROUP (CPWG)
2009

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This document is the psychosocial module of the Introduction to Child Protection in Emergencies and Interagency Modular Training Package. This module is divided into the following sections:
Part 1 presents a background to psychosocial issues including the overall impact of emergencies on psychosocial well-being, psychosocial effects of emergencies on children, and legal framework and advocacy activities.
Part 2 intervention planning presents psychosocial programming principles and priority activities, and co-ordination and sector support.
Part 3 psychosocial programming presents addressing basic services and security developing community and family supports, focused supports, and referrals to specialised services
This comprehensive document will be of particular interest to NGOs, DPOs, international and national bodies and anyone else interested in child protection and psychosocial work with children and their families
Note: The core resources for this module are the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidance on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings and the key interventions of the Sphere Handbook (2004) Standard for Mental and Social Aspects of Health

What are we learning about protecting children in the community? An inter-agency review of evidence on community-based child protection mechanisms|Executive summary

WESSELLS, Mike
2009

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"Drawing on findings from 60 countries and 160 documents, this executive summary: describes different types of community-based child protection groups; identifies common factors that appear to make groups effective (including community ownership, building on existing resources, children’s participation, links between formal and non-formal systems, and balancing power across groups); looks at examples of scaling up, and ensuring the sustainability both of groups and of positive outcomes for children; sets out six key challenges to maximising the effectiveness of groups; puts forward recommendations to practitioners and donors on how to strengthen community support for children’s protection and wellbeing.
This summary will be of interest to everyone who works in this area - practitioners, policy advisers and donors"
Note: The full report is on the CD-Rom

ARC resource pack : user guide

ACTION FOR THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN (ARC)
2009

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"The ARC resource pack provides an essential collection of information and training material on CD-ROM, to strengthen people’s capacity: to tackle the root causes of children’s vulnerabilities; to build effective child protection systems for use in emergencies and long-term development; [and] to ensure that no activities inadvertently compromise children’s rights or safety....The pack includes the latest standards and best practices and reflects the realities of present-day emergencies, with increased emphasis on natural disasters and internal displacement.....This guide explains what is on the CD-ROM and the range of users for whom it is relevant. It will help you to decide how to build ARC materials into your work and outlines the relationship between the ARC resource pack and other materials"

Protecting children from sexual exploitation and sexual violence in disaster and emergency situations

DELANEY, Stephanie
March 2006

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"This manual is about how to protect children from sexual violence and sexual exploitation, specifically in disaster and emergency situations. It is not intended to be an academic report but instead is a practical guide that we hope will be of use to people working directly in the field. The aim is to provide fundamental information to assist personnel working in emergency situations in responding to protect children, in terms of what can be done before disaster strikes (which might be called ‘mitigation’ efforts), in the immediate aftermath (the ‘response’) and in the longer term reconstruction phase (sometimes called the ‘recovery’). We have also included recommended actions and key considerations to be taken into account in the event of sexual violence or sexual exploitation"

Inter-agency guiding principles on unaccompanied and separated children

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS (ICRC)
et al
January 2004

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This publication outlines the guiding principles which form the basis for action when children are unaccompanied, become separated from their families or other adults who they know, or are orphaned in disaster situations, armed conflicts or other crises. The guiding principles are intended primarily for national, international and non-governmental organizations and other associations concerned with separated children. They are also designed to assist governments and donors in meeting their obligations and taking funding decisions

The role of education in protecting children in conflict

NICOLAI, Susan
TRIPLEHORN, Carl
2003

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This paper explores the links between education and the wider protection of children in conflicts. It argues that the role of education must be researched so that it can already be used in emerging conflicts and protect children more effectively

We the children : meeting the promises of the World Summit for Children

UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND (UNICEF)
September 2001

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The report assesses progress to date in meeting the commitments made to the children around the world at the 1990 World Summit for Children. It also includes best practices and lessons learned, obstacles to progress, and a plan of action for building a world fit for children. It will be particularly useful to policy-makers, researchers, journalists and students as a reference tool and as an example of the progress that can be achieved through goal-oriented development planning

HIV/AIDS and children affected by armed conflict

UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND (UNICEF)
2001

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This publication addresses the issue of how to incorporate HIV prevention and care into routine responses to complex humanitarian emergencies. It considers evidence that conflict facilitates the spread of HIV and also inhibits responses to HIV/AIDS. It reviews interventions carried out at international and national levels by UNICEF, other UN agencies and non-governmental organizations. Lessons learned are discussed and recommendations are given for UNICEF’s role in reducing the spread of HIV in situations of armed conflict

Drum beat

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This regular free email newsletter summarises information included on the Communiation Intitaive's website. Issues are thematic

Handbook on psychosocial assessment of children and communities in emergencies

THE UNITED NATIONS CHLDREN'S FUND (UNICEF)

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"This is a guidebook for any agency, organization or academic doing rehabilitation work and focuses on the assessment to be conducted when an emergency first hits or just after a major event in an armed conflict. In these situations, typically a responding agency or group organizes an assessment team of five to eight people who go to the affected area to determine the needs of survivors. This handbook speaks to those assessment teams that focus on the psychosocial as well as physical needs of children, their families and the communities"

Medbox : the aid library

MEDBOX

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Medbox is an online library aimed at improving the quality of healthcare in humanitarian action. An independent internet platform supported by international agencies and scientific institutions active in humanitarian assistance and development, this resource collates online professional guidelines, textbooks and practical documents on health action.

 

Resources are divided under the following main headings: Key resources (subheadings include Disaster Preparedness, WASH, Project Cycle Management), Clinical Guidelines, Pharmacy and Technologies, Women and Child Health, Public Health, Countries and Toolboxes

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