DRG Newsletter - April 2023

Monthly Newsletter | Issue 30

Welcome to the DRG Monthly Newsletter!

A woman in a wheelchair from her back with a woman beside her looking at the fence with people next to it

©Josh Apel

Dear DRG Members,

We are sharing this newsletter as the last days of Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks (HNPW) are underway. Many of our members have been actively engaged in leading and participating in various sessions and we have seen much discussion on how to ensure protection of the rights on persons with disabilities in humanitarian emergencies, which are becoming increasingly complex and protracted. Keep an eye out in our next (May) newsletter for an overview of key take aways from HNPW 2023.

While these discussions were ongoing in Geneva, new humanitarian emergencies emerged and ongoing crises continued around the world. These emergencies highlighted the relevance of discussions at a global level- on the need for continuing commitment and focus to ensuring fully inclusive humanitarian response, from the start of an emergency, and with leadership from persons with disabilities themselves.

In this month’s newsletter, we present a number of new resources from global and country levels, and as always we encourage our members to share any new reports or resources with us so that all members may benefit.

Elham Youssefian (International Disability Alliance)
Christian Modino Hok (CBM Global)
Kirstin Lange (UNICEF)

Exploring the Intersectionality of International Refugee Protection and the CRPD

by IDA

This paper highlights the multitude of barriers persons with disabilities experience in obtaining refugee protection. The paper reviews the accessibility of asylum procedures for persons with disabilities, disability as an element in interpreting and applying the refugee definition under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Refugee Convention), and protections provided under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) for asylum-seekers and refugees with disabilities, formulating key questions for further discussion.

READ THE PAPER HERE

Mozambique – IOM Disability and Inclusion Survey

by IOM

Cover page of the report. Photo woman holding a hand of a boy

Since October 2017, the province of Cabo Delgado in Northern Mozambique has experienced violent attacks by non-state armed groups, resulting in an environment of insecurity significantly affecting conflict-affected host communities, displaced communities, and left behind communities. As a result of ongoing security incidents, an estimated 946,508 individuals live in protracted displacement according to International Organisation of Migration’s (IOM) Displacement Track Matrix (DTM) Baseline Round 16 (June 2022).

This report presents the results of a dedicated assessment amongst displaced households hosted in three targeted sites, on barriers faced by persons with disabilities accessing humanitarian assistance.

READ THE REPORT HERE

DEAF PEOPLE IN IRAQ, A CULTURAL-LINGUISTIC MINORITY: THEIR RIGHTS AND VISION FOR INCLUSION

by IOM

Deaf people in Iraq have experienced significant disadvantages from decades of armed conflict, terrorism, war, stigma, and economic hardship. Deaf people, a cultural-linguistic minority, have rarely been consulted in Iraq on matters related to their daily life, rights and vision for the future.

This report identifies concrete ways for members of the Federal Government of Iraq, Kurdistan Regional Government, United Nations Country team, national and international NGOs, local Civil Society Organizations and stakeholders to address barriers experienced by deaf people, in partnership with deaf people.

READ THE REPORT HERE

DISABILITY-INCLUSIVE SHELTER AND SETTLEMENTS IN EMERGENCIES

by All Under One Roof

Man in a wheelchair, architectural graphic, and a photo

A key condition for the realization of the right to adequate housing, including in emergencies, is accessibility, in terms of both the physical location of the dwelling or accommodation and the ease with which the space itself can be used by the affected individuals. However, despite the best of intentions, post disaster shelter and settlement responses are invariably designed to provide standardised solutions to an affected community without sufficiently addressing the potential barriers faced by persons with disabilities, older people and other groups living in such settlements and shelters.

This recently revised version of All Under One Roof aims to bridge the gap between good intentions and practical implementation by offering technical guidance for disability-inclusive shelter and settlement support in emergencies.