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Guidelines. Inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action

IASC TASK TEAM ON INCLUSION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN HUMANITARIAN ACTION
July 2019

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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. 

 

Chapters include:

  • What to do - key approaches to programming
  • Data and information management
  • Partnerships and empowerment of organisation of people with disabilities
  • Cross cutting considerations
  • Accountability to affected people and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse
  • Humanitarian response options
  • Stakeholder roles and responsibilities
  • What sectors need to do
  • Camp coordination and camp management
  • Education
  • Food security and nutrition
  • Livelihoods
  • Health
  • Protection
  • Shelter and settlements
  • Water, sanitation and hygiene

Humanitarian inclusion standards for older people and people with disabilities

ADCAP
TILL, Celia
et al
February 2018

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The Humanitarian inclusion standards for older people and people with disabilities provide guidance across all areas and at all stages of emergency response to ensure older people and people with disabilities are not left out.

The standards consist of nine key inclusion standards, including identification, safe and equitable access, knowledge and participation, and learning. Alongside these, there are seven sector-specific inclusion standards, which include protection, shelter, health, and water, sanitation and hygiene.

Each standard comes with key actions, guidance, tools and resources, and case studies illustrating how older people and people with disabilities have been included in humanitarian responses.

The sector-specific standards provide guidance in three key areas: data and information management, addressing barriers to inclusion, and participation of older people and people with disabilities.

By implementing the key action points provided, organisations will build up a greater evidence base, deliver more inclusive programmes, and be able to better demonstrate impact on the lives of those most at risk during humanitarian crises.

The standards can be used as guidance during programme development, implementation and monitoring, and as a resource for training and advocacy.

High-Level Political Forum 2017

INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY ALLIANCE (IDA)
2017

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The theme for HLPF 2017 (High-Level Political Forum on sustainable development), 10-19 July 2017, is "Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world". The set of goals to be reviewed in depth will be goals 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 14 and 17.

Key documents for HLPF 2017

Policy Briefs: HLPF 2017  
Global Report on the participation of organisations of persons with disabilities (DPOs) in VNR Processes 
Accessible Information Communication Technology and Assistive Technologies and Persons with Disabilities 
HLPF 2017: Submission Paper by the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilitie

Guidelines for integrating gender-based violence interventions in humanitarian action: Reducing risk, promoting resilience and aiding recovery

WARD, Jean
LAFRENIERE, Julie
et al
2015

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The purpose of these Guidelines is to assist humanitarian actors and communities affected by armed conflict, natural disasters and other humanitarian emergencies to coordinate, plan, implement, monitor and evaluate essential actions for the prevention and mitigation of gender-based violence (GBV) across all sectors of humanitarian response. Part One presents an overview of GBV, provides an explanation for why GBV is a protection concern for all humanitarian actors and outlines recommendations for ensuring implementation of the Guidelines. Part Two provides a background to the ‘thematic areas’ in Part Three. It also introduces the guiding principles and approaches that are the foundation for all planning and implementation of GBV-related programming. Part Three constitutes the bulk of these Guidelines. It provides specific guidance, organized into thirteen thematic area sections: camp coordination and camp management; child protection; education; food security and agriculture; health; housing, land and property; humanitarian mine action; livelihoods; nutrition; protection; shelter, settlement and recovery; water, sanitation and hygiene; humanitarian operations support sectors. The importance of cross-sectoral coordination is highlighted in each section. It is also recommended that sector actors review the content of all thematic area sections. The Guidelines draw from many tools, standards, background materials and other resources developed by the United Nations, national and international non-governmental organizations, and academic sources. In each thematic area there is a list of resources specific to that area, and additional GBV-related resources are provided in Annex 1. The importance of indicators being disaggregated by sex, age, disability and other vulnerability factors is highlighted throughout.

Lessons learned on inclusion of people with disability in the ICCO Gaibandha food security project for ultra poor women, 2009-2013

BRUIJN, Paulien
October 2013

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The Gaibandha Food Security Program is one of the first programs that mainstreams disability on a large scale, and the Food Security Project in Gaibandha was implemented in order to improve the food security situation of 40.000 women headed households. In April 2013 an internal evaluation took place on the disability mainstreaming process within the FSUP Gaibandha project. This report reflects related lessons learned about disability mainstreaming

Resilient livelihoods : disaster risk reduction for food and nutrition security framework programme

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
April 2013

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Through its disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) seeks to protect livelihoods from shocks, to make food production systems more resilient and more capable of absorbing the impact of, and recovering from, disruptive events. The FAO Disaster Risk Reduction for Food and Nutrition Security Framework Programme (DRR for FNS) serves to support and provide strategic direction, to FAO member countries and partners, for the implementation of Disaster Risk Reduction for Food and Nutrition Security programmes. The goal is to enhance the resilience of livelihoods against threats and emergencies to ensure the FNS of vulnerable farmers, fishers, herders, foresters and other at risk groups

Human Rights, Social Inclusion and Health Equity in International Donors' Policies

Eide, A H
Amin, M
MacLachlan, M
Mannan, H
Schneider, M
2013

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Background: Health policies have the potential to be important instruments in achieving equity in health. A framework – EquiFrame - for assessing the extent to which health policies promote equity was used to perform an equity audit of the health policies of three international aid organizations.

 

Objective: To assess the extent to which social inclusion and human rights feature in the health policies of DFID (UK), Irish Aid, and NORAD (Norway).

 

Method: EquiFrame provides a tool for analyzing equity and quality of health policies with regards to social inclusion and human rights. Each health policy was analyzed with regards to the frequency and content of a predefined set ofVulnerable Groups and Core Concepts.

 

Results: The three policies vary but are all relatively weak with regards to social inclusion and human rights issues as defined in EquiFrame. The needs and rights of vulnerable groups for adequate health services are largely not addressed.

 

Conclusion: In order to enhance a social inclusion and human rights perspective that will promote equity in health through more equitable health policies, it is suggested that EquiFrame can be used to guide the revision and development of the health policies of international organizations, aid agencies and bilateral donors in the future.

 

Limitations: Analyses are limited to “policy on the books” and does not measure how effectively vulnerable groups are included in mainstream health policy work.

Roads from Rio+20: pathways to achieve global sustainability goals by 2050

PBL NETHERLANDS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AGENCY
et al
2012

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"This report was written in the run-up to Rio+20, the UN conference that will revisit the outcomes of its 1992 precursor. Rio+20 aims to set the agenda for sustainable development policies in the coming decade, with its focus on a next generation of sustainable development goals, a green economy and the reform of the institutional framework for sustainable development. This report analyses possible pathways to achieve a set of internationally agreed sustainable development goals for food, land and biodiversity, as well as for energy and climate. It explores how environmental and development objectives could be reconciled, in actual practice"

Mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian emergencies : what should humanitarian health actors know

IASC REFERENCE GROUP FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT IN EMERGENCY SETTINGS
2010

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"This document is for humanitarian health actors working at national and sub-national level in countries facing emergencies and crises. It applies to Health Cluster partners, including governmental and non-governmental health service providers. Based on the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (IASC, 2007), this document gives an overview of essential knowledge that humanitarian health actors should have about mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in humanitarian emergencies"

Managing the health effects of climate change

COSTELLO, Anthony
et al
May 2009

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This report, produced by the Lancet and University College London Institute for Global Health Commission, focuses on managing the health effects of climate change. It says that climate change is the biggest global-health threat of the 21st century. The commission reviewed the likely health impacts of climate change on human societies - and documented ways to reverse those impacts. It concluded that there is a need for policymakers, practitioners and the public to act urgently on the human health effects of climate change

Understanding the links between agriculture and health

HAWKES, Corinna
RUEL, Marie T
May 2006

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This is a collection of briefs on the relationship between agricultural systems and outputs and health. Provides a conceptual framework of the linkage between agriculture and health and looks in some detail at some key aspects, including food safety, agricultural technology, nutrition, foodbourne diseases, malaria and water-associated diseases, HIV and AIDS, occupational health hazards, livestock, fisheries, agroforestry, agrobiodiversity, urban agriculture, sustainability, policymaking and synergies between agriculture and health

Global health watch 2005-2006 : an alternative world health report

LEMA, Claudia
et al
2005

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This report is the result of a collaboration of leading popular movements, NGOs, activists, academics and health workers. It provides an evidence-based analysis of the political economy of health and health care and challenges policies and initiatives of global organisations including the World Bank, the World Health Organization and UNICEF. Many key issues relevant to health are covered, including health care services and systems, health of vulnerable groups, climate change, food and water, education, armed conflicts. Part E also provides and assessment of the impact global institutions, transnational corporations and rich countries. This report is a call for action, directed to health workers and activists and national and international policy-makers

Health : an ecosystem approach

LEBEL, Jean
2003

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Can people remain healthy in a world that is sick? Many ecological disasters can be directly traced to careless exploitation of the environment, with human beings as first perpetrator and then victim. Our health closely mirrors the health of our surroundings: this is the basis of the Ecohealth approach. It recognizes the links between humans and their biophysical, social, and economic environments, and that these links are reflected in the population's state of health. This is a new area of research, requiring input from scientists, community and interest groups, and decision-makers. This book describes this new approach, providing lessons and recommendations from various IDRC-supported research activities. It demonstrates how decision-makers, in particular, can use the ecohealth approach to formulate policies and solutions that are both immediately visible and sustainable over the long term

Health and environment library modules

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
1997

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This package consists of two components: key documents from international agencies on environmental health and water and sanitation issues; and a set of tools to manage this information, including a list of bibliographical references, and an electronic version of this material accessble in CARDBOX, as text files, or in a MICRO-ISIS compatible format.
Contents: Introduction (WHO/EHG/97.2/INT) -- Environmental health : general issues WHO/EHG/97.2/GEN) -- Environmental epidemiology (WHO/EHG/97.2/EPI) -- Ionizing radiation (WHO/EHG/97.2/ION) -- Annex (WHO/EHG/97.2/annex) -- Food safety (WHO/EHG/97.2/FOOD, 2nd rev. ed.) -- Vector control (WHO/EHG/97.2/VEC, 2nd rev. ed.) -- Water quality, water supply and sanitation (WHO/EHG/97.2/WAT, 2nd rev. ed.)

Pages

E-bulletin