Key inclusion standards

© Nicolas Axelrod/Handicap International

Key inclusion standards

1: Identification

Older people and people with disabilities are identified to ensure they access humanitarian assistance and protection that is participative, appropriate and relevant to their needs.

2: Safe and equitable access

Older people and people with disabilities have safe and equitable access to humanitarian assistance.

3: Resilience

Older people and people with disabilities are not negatively affected, are more prepared and resilient, and are less at risk as a result of humanitarian action.

4: Knowledge and participation

Older people and people with disabilities know their rights and entitlements, and participate in decisions that affect their lives.

5: Feedback and complaints

Older people and people with disabilities have access to safe and responsive feedback and complaints mechanisms.

6: Coordination

Older people and people with disabilities access and participate in humanitarian assistance that is coordinated and complementary.

7: Learning

Organisations collect and apply learning to deliver more inclusive assistance.

8: Human resources

Staff and volunteers have the appropriate skills and attitudes to implement inclusive humanitarian action, and older people and people with disabilities have equal opportunities for employment and volunteering in humanitarian organisations.

9: Resources management

Older people and people with disabilities can expect that humanitarian organisations are managing resources in a way that promotes inclusion.

Key inclusion standard 1: Identification

Older people and people with disabilities are identified to ensure they access humanitarian assistance and protection that is participative, appropriate and relevant to their needs.

Key actions

1.1:
Collect, analyse and report information relating to older people and people with disabilities in all humanitarian information management systems.
1.2:
Engage directly with older people and people with disabilities to identify and monitor their capacities and needs, and their access to humanitarian assistance.

Guidance notes

Guidance for key action 1.1: Collect, analyse and report information relating to older people and people with disabilities in all humanitarian information management systems.

Existing sources of data

Where available, use existing sources of data to obtain information about older people and people with disabilities. Possible sources are:

censuses, ministry databases and databases from organisations of people with disabilities (DPOs) and older people’s associations (OPAs), where they exist, for national population data;
situation analyses or rapid needs assessments disaggregated by sex, age and disability for data on the affected population;
risks analyses for data on barriers to access and participation, capacities and coping strategies;
needs assessments, disaggregated by groups, for data on the needs of older people and people with disabilities;
consultations with older people (men and women) and people with different types of disability (women, men, girls and boys); and
school registers and social protection programmes for data on school enrolment, employment and social benefits for older people and people with disabilities.

Note that different collection methods might have been used in different sources of data. This might result in inconsistencies in data on older people and people with disabilities.

Use estimates if data are not available. An estimated 15 per cent of people globally have a disability (19.2 per cent of females and 12 per cent of males).⁴ An estimated 13 per cent of people globally are aged 60 or over.⁵ More than 46 per cent of older people (aged 60 and over) have a disability.⁶

Disaggregating data

Collecting and analysing data disaggregated by sex, age and disability will allow you to identify older people and people with disabilities, assess their capacities and needs, and find out about the risks they face.

When developing indicators to measure progress and change, construct them to show how the needs, barriers and participation of older people (women and men) and people with disabilities (women, men, girls and boys) are being addressed.

Use the same questions and indicators at all stages of the programme cycle for consistency.

Use recommended age cohorts to disaggregate data by age, and the Washington Group questions (see Tools and resources) to disaggregate data by disability:

For data on age, use the same cohorts as in national data collection systems. If there are no national age cohorts, the following are suggested: 0-5, 6-12, 13-17, 18-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, and 80+.
For data on disability, use the short set of Washington Group questions. These are six questions designed to find out if the respondent has any difficulty in performing certain activities (walking, seeing, hearing, cognition, self-care and communication). Each question has four answer categories (no – no difficulty, yes – some difficulty, yes – a lot of difficulty or cannot do it at all). If anyone answers “yes – a lot of difficulty” or “cannot do at all” to at least one question, this should be considered a cut-off point for classification of a person with a disability for data disaggregation purposes.

Do not change the wording order, response categories, or cut-off points for classification of disability of the Washington Group questions.

For children aged 2 to 17 years, use the Washington Group/UNICEF child functioning question set, which is more sensitive to child development (see Tools and resources).

Remember: disaggregating data alone will not help you identify barriers to inclusion and participation that older people and people with disabilities may face. Nor will data disaggregation alone allow you to determine someone’s eligibility for assistance. However, it will help you identify groups of people who could be facing barriers, and suggest where these barriers might be.

Data on barriers and enablers

Collect information on what factors prevent access to services by older people and people with disabilities (see ‘barriers’ in the Glossary) and what factors enable their access (see ‘enablers’ in the Glossary). Collect this information directly from older people and people with disabilities of all ages.

Carry out an accessibility audit to identify barriers to accessing services and facilities (see Tools and resources). This will provide guidance to project managers, service providers, other professionals and users on how to make a service or facility more accessible.

Routinely review your accessibility audit fndings to make sure that the needs and capacities of older people and people with disabilities continue to be addressed.

Pay particular attention to barriers that hinder free movement, use of facilities, and access to information by people with physical, visual, sensory, intellectual or psychosocial disabilities.

Consider organisational barriers. Assess the attitudes and skills of staff and volunteers as to the inclusion and participation of older people and people with disabilities. For example, conduct a knowledge, attitudes and practices assessment.

In assessments, include questions that identify the skills, capacities and contributions that older people and people with disabilities can make to humanitarian action.

Inclusive data collection

Make sure that the data collection process itself is inclusive. For example:

train staff responsible for data collection on how to communicate with older people and people with disabilities, and how to disaggregate data by sex, age and disability (see Guidance note above on disaggregating data);
involve older people and people with disabilities in collecting data (see Guidance note below on involving older people and people with disabilities).

Develop strategies (such as outreach) to identify and register older people and people with disabilities who may be most at risk of exclusion from services, or of violence and abuse. These may include people isolated at home or those living in residential institutions, such as orphanages or care homes.

Conduct individual interviews and home visits to collect information from people who may be isolated in their home, or who would prefer to be seen individually.

Data analysis

Analyse data on areas such as health or nutritional status, access to services, or participation in the humanitarian response, disaggregated by sex, age and disability. For example, data on the nutritional status of the affected community, disaggregated by sex, age and disability, would show you the percentage of older people (women and men) and people with disabilities (women, men, girls and boys) whose nutritional status has changed over a particular period.

Use supplementary sources of information, for example accessibility audits or focus group discussions, to understand the situation of older people and people with disabilities.

Use this data to address barriers that older people and people with disabilities may face to participating or to accessing services (see Key inclusion standard 2, Guidance note on addressing barriers).

Data monitoring and sharing

Regularly collect and analyse data on how your programmes are including older people and people with disabilities. If you identify gaps when you conduct your analysis, such as an absence of disaggregated data or data on barriers, collect additional data, disaggregated by sex, age and disability.

As well as using the data within your organisation, share it with coordinated data collection systems, such as humanitarian needs overviews, strategic response plans, and coordinated monitoring systems, such as the Humanitarian Data Exchange, or the ALERT Emergency Preparedness Platform.

Also share data from assessments and monitoring reports, including lessons learnt, challenges, and unmet needs, with other humanitarian agencies.

Share data with crisis-affected communities to make sure that it represents their needs and capacities and the barriers they face, and that they understand how it will be used.

Remember: before you share data, follow data-sharing protocols to protect confidentiality.

Guidance for key action 1.2: Engage directly with older people and people with disabilities to identify and monitor their capacities and needs, and their access to humanitarian assistance.

Involving older people and people with disabilities

Involve older people and people with disabilities in developing data collection and monitoring systems that are relevant, accessible and culturally appropriate.

There may be barriers that prevent older people and people with disabilities from taking part in these activities. For example, the consultation site might not be accessible, or the capacity of older people or people with disabilities to input into household assessments might be overlooked.

Support diversity in the group of older people and people with disabilities who are involved. For example, include women and men of different ages, and involve people with different types of disabilities, and support their meaningful participation. Consider arranging initial meetings with smaller groups to find out how you can make an assessment or consultation more accessible.

During assessments and consultations, communicate directly with older people and people with disabilities. Ask them, for example:⁷

what they perceive are the main challenges and opportunities to contribute to preparedness, response and recovery;
what capacities they have and how they would like to utilise them;
how to meet the diverse needs of people with different types of disability (women, men, girls and boys) and of different ages (women and men), such as how to communicate with people with sensory disabilities; and
what services and facilities they use, and what barriers and enablers they encounter when accessing them (see Box 2 ‘Barriers to inclusion’ below).

Involving community-based organisations

Map organisations in the crisis-affected area that represent and provide services to older people and people with disabilities. These may include community-based organisations, DPOs and OPAs (see Box 1 ‘Mapping organisations’ below).

Involve these organisations in collecting data on the capacities and needs of older people and people with disabilities. For example, involve them in data collection teams, focus group discussions or as volunteers in needs assessments.

Tools and resources

Data collection

People with disabilities

Washington Group on Disability Statistics, The Washington Group Short Set of Questions on Disability, http://bit.ly/2daMyJb (15 December 2017)

UNICEF and Washington Group on Disability Statistics, Child Functioning Question Sets, http://bit.ly/2hDVZOR (15 December 2017)

Older people

HelpAge International, Valid International, and Brixton Health, RAM-OP: Rapid Assessment Method for Older People, http://bit.ly/1ljkF0z (15 December 2017)

Sex-disaggregation

Inter-Agency Standing Committee, Women, Girls, Boys and Men: Different needs – equal opportunities, Gender Handbook in Humanitarian Action, IASC, 2006, http://bit.ly/2keX9o2

Accessibility audit

Handicap International Technical Resources Division, Practical Guide: Conduct an accessibility audit in low- and middle-income countries, Lyon, Handicap International, 2014, http://bit.ly/2ad0V9y

Types of barriers

CBM, Inclusive Project Cycle Management Trainers’ Manual: Stage 1/Handout 2, Inclusion and Barriers to Inclusion, CBM, http://bit.ly/2BsbnsO

Box 1

Mapping organisations

DPOs and OPAs are usually formed to support the empowerment of older people and people with disabilities and advocate for their rights.

These groups may not exist in all crisis-affected communities. In this case, partner with other community-based organisations to support them to be inclusive. Where DPOs and OPAs do exist, they may have no expertise in humanitarian action. In this case, you could work with them to strengthen their capacities.

When mapping DPOs, OPAs or other representative groups:

identify their priorities for humanitarian action, their strengths, capacities, and areas that need to be strengthened;
ask them about their role in the community;
ask them who they represent, how they collect information from the crisis-affected population, and how they promote gender equality and diversity in their work; and
look for organisations that represent different types of disability, all genders, all ages, and different at-risk groups, such as refugees, migrants or people from ethnic minorities. Certain groups, such as people with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities, women with disabilities, or older people with disabilities, may not be represented by any organisation in some places. In such cases, you may need to identify individuals instead of groups.

Remember: involve local authorities in this mapping exercise. This can give them the opportunity to strengthen their links with DPOs and OPAs.

Box 2

Barriers to inclusion

Barriers to inclusion can be:

Attitudinal. Negative attitudes and discrimination on one hand, or over-protection on the other hand, can be caused by a misconception of disability or older age. For example, people in the community might believe that an older person or a person with a disability cannot participate in the response. Parents might hide a child with a disability at home because they think that disability is a source of shame. Factors such as disability, age and gender are not isolated: the intersection between them can create multiple forms of discrimination.
Environmental. Barriers include physical barriers to accessing the built environment, and barriers to information and communication. For example, if only one format is used to provide information on humanitarian services, instead of different formats, such as tactile signing, sign language, audio or images, this could be a barrier. Information barriers may be less visible than physical barriers, but it is important to detect them, as they can exclude large groups of people.
Institutional. Laws, policies and procedures (including those of humanitarian organisations) can lead to either intended or unintended discrimination against certain groups. These barriers may segregate older people and people with disabilities from many areas of life, such as employment, political participation, education or social services.

Case study

Collecting data on disability using the Washington Group questions

Handicap International led a project named ‘Disability Statistics in Humanitarian Action’, which was designed to test and assess the use of the Washington Group questions in humanitarian action. Through this project, Handicap International collaborated with a wide variety of partners working in different settings and sectors, and is creating training materials.

The project identified a number of challenges that people face when collecting data about people with disabilities. For example, that people collecting data often view disability from a medical perspective, focusing on impairment or medical conditions. They also found that, in many cases, existing data management information systems that organisations use may not be aligned to the Washington Group questions, making them complicated to adapt.

As part of this project, Handicap International worked with partners to adapt existing data collection tools and systems. They also provided training for data collectors, to demonstrate how to collect data on disability and how to use the Washington Group questions. To help reinforce the understanding of participants and allow them to practise their skills, they provided the opportunity for field testing and mock interviews as part of the training.

Once the barriers to collecting data were addressed, information began to emerge from the project that could help to inform programming. For example, collecting data using the Washington Group questions at registration points in a refugee camp helped to indicate whether refugees with disabilities were accessing the camps. Results from the project demonstrated that using the Washington Group questions, significantly more people with disabilities were identified than when existing data collection methods were used. When piloting the Washington Group questions in 98 registration interviews, for example, UNHCR reported that identification of people with disabilities increased more than tenfold, from 2.36 per cent to 27.55 per cent. Data like these can then be used to assess whether programmes are inclusive and can be complemented by an analysis of any barriers to inclusion.

Source: Handicap International

Key inclusion standard 2: Safe and equitable access

Older people and people with disabilities have safe and equitable access to humanitarian assistance.

Key actions

2.1:
Address barriers that affect participation and access to services.
2.2:
Strengthen factors that enable older people and people with disabilities to participate and have access to services.

Guidance notes

Guidance for key action 2.1: Address barriers that affect participation and access to services.

Attitudinal barriers

Sensitise the community, including leaders, community workers, and caregivers, on the rights of older people and people with disabilities.

Sensitise organisations including partners, service providers, policy makers, and coordinating and implementing agencies about how to prevent discrimination.

Environmental barriers

Physical barriers. Design facilities and distribution systems in such a way that they are accessible to everyone, regardless of age or disability⁸ (see Box 3 ‘What is accessibility?’ below).

Apply national accessibility standards, if available. Work with national authorities, such as ministries, and/ or experts to identify potential gaps and solutions. If no national standards are available, refer to international standards, such as the standards on the built environment from the International Organization for Standardization (see Tools and resources).

If necessary, make modifcations and adjustments to support older people and people with disabilities to access services, activities and programmes on an individual basis. This is referred to as ‘reasonable accommodation’ in Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (see ‘reasonable accommodation’ in the Glossary). For example, when you organise meetings, provide transportation allowances for people who may face barriers to using public transport or walking long distances.

Support older people and people with disabilities to participate in the design and delivery of services on an equal basis with everyone else.

Information barriers. Provide information through a range of communication channels and in different formats, so that it is accessible to everyone.

Consult older people, people with disabilities, and their representative organisations about how they prefer you to communicate with them.

Use simple language and a variety of formats, depending on what is required, such as universal or local sign language interpretation, live captioning, easy-to-read format (simple text combined with images), or Braille (if the audience uses it). Ensure that written information is easily readable, for example by using large fonts and colour contrast.

Institutional barriers

Integrate respect for the rights of older people and people with disabilities into organisational policies and codes of conduct.

Design or adapt data collection tools to allow for sex, age and disability data disaggregation.

Sensitise staff on the rights of older people and people with disabilities.

Budgeting to address barriers

Include dedicated resources for accessibility in your budget. For physical accessibility, consider budgeting at least an additional 0.5-1 per cent. For non-food items and assistive devices, consider budgeting at least an additional 3-4 per cent.

Monitoring actions

When you monitor your actions to address barriers, collect feedback from older people and people with disabilities on how effective these actions have been, and how they could be improved.

Guidance for key action 2.2: Strengthen factors that enable older people and people with disabilities to participate and have access to services.

Strengthen factors that have been identified as enabling access and participation. These may include:

community-based mechanisms, such as community support networks, community-based rehabilitation programmes, DPOs or OPAs (see ‘community-based rehabilitation’ in the Glossary);
capacities of older people and people with disabilities to support their communities to respond to a crisis – based on their previous experience in different sectors, such as shelter reconstruction or health;
national policies and programmes, such as policies on accessibility, or on social benefits for older people or people with disabilities;
measures that allow older people and people with disabilities to be accompanied by a person of their choice, if they require this type of support – this person could be a family member, caregiver or personal assistant;
referral mechanisms to relevant services, making sure information about these services is accessible; and
accessible communication systems, such as community outreach workers, community councils or local radio.

Tools and resources

Accessible information – general

CBM, Humanitarian Hands-on Tool (HHoT), Information task card, CBM, http://bit.ly/2AScPDL (15 December 2017)

Children and adolescents

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), General Guidance: Including children with disabilities in humanitarian action, UNICEF, 2017, http://bit.ly/2zjrqtJ

Website design

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG, published 2005, updated 2017, http://bit.ly/26rBb27 (15 December 2017)

Presentations

World Blind Union, WBU PowerPoint Guidelines, WBU, 2007, http://bit.ly/2jafkdp

Building access

CBM, Humanitarian Hands-on Tool (HHoT), Building access task card, CBM, http://bit.ly/2zjsg9R (15 December 2017)

International Organization for Standardization, Building Construction: Accessibility and usability of the built environment, ISO 21542:2011, ISO, 2011, http://bit.ly/2CVjtdO

Box 3

What is accessibility?

Accessibility is a precondition for the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities in the life of their community. It should be promoted in every situation.

Article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) highlights accessibility as a commitment to enable people with disabilities “to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life”. This means taking appropriate measures to ensure access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, transportation, information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas.

Depending on the context, there are different ways to make an environment accessible. Regardless of the resources available, the principles of universal design (see Glossary) should always be applied.

When thinking about accessibility, think of the RECU principle – Reach, Enter, Circulate and Use, meaning everyone can easily:

Reach buildings, public spaces, communications, transportations and other services they wish to use.
Enter buildings and other spaces, and have access to written materials and broadcasted messages.
Circulate inside buildings and other places.
Use all the services provided and use all communication materials.

Box 4

Equitable access to cash-based assistance

Consider the following measures to enable older people and people with disabilities to receive cash or vouchers:

ask older people and people with disabilities what type of support they prefer, such as in-kind, vouchers or cash transfers;
if they prefer cash, make sure that the cash delivery mechanism is accessible – for example, make information available in different formats and make it easy to read and understand – and make sure older people and people with disabilities can reach markets, shops and cash distribution points, including cash machines (ATMs);
if necessary, provide additional support to older people and people with disabilities to access cash-based assistance and to use cash distribution systems, such as banking systems, if they are not familiar with the technology;
for those who prefer to appoint someone to collect their cash or vouchers on their behalf, make sure the system allows them to choose someone they trust to do this, and minimise any risk of appropriation by this person;
minimise the possible negative consequences of cash-based assistance for older people and people with disabilities, such as additional costs they may incur – for example, they might need to pay for transportation to reach markets, or for someone to support them to collect or spend the money; and
check that older people and people with disabilities are receiving their full allowance, and are not being put at greater risk by receiving cash-based assistance – for example, they may be at risk of theft or violence, or other forms of abuse.

Note: the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities in cash programming in emergencies requires more attention than it has received so far. More evidence-based guidance is needed.

Case study

An inclusive response to ﬂooding in Nyando, Kenya

Flooding is a perennial issue in Kisumu County, Kenya. In November 2015, the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) county response team was deployed to assist approximately 1,200 people affected by ﬂoods.

At this time, the KRCS was in the initial stages of working towards inclusive programming. There had already been some awareness-raising with their response teams where they learnt that during ﬂoods, older people and people with disabilities are usually carried to safety on someone’s back or transported in a cart for a fee.

Following early warnings of the ﬂoods, mapping took place with the support of local authorities and leaders. This enabled the response teams to identify households that were most at risk.

The response team prioritised groups using the information from the mapping, together with the understanding of the increased risks faced by older people, people with disabilities, and pregnant women. The team arranged to use a powered canoe as part of the evacuation, targeting those people most at risk of being stranded.

Feedback received suggested that this approach was considered more dignified by those evacuated and feelings that they were better protected during the process. However, at these initial stages, the participation component of inclusion was not yet part of the approach, meaning that older people and people with disabilities did not form part of the decision-making process. This important element would later be embedded in the approach of the Kenya Red Cross Society.

Source: Kenya Red Cross Society

Key inclusion standard 3: Resilience

Older people and people with disabilities are not negatively affected, are more prepared and resilient, and are less at risk as a result of humanitarian action.

Key actions

3.1:
Strengthen the capacity and leadership of older people and people with disabilities, and their representative organisations, to contribute to inclusive preparedness, response and recovery.
3.2:
Identify, assess and mitigate risks faced by older people and people with disabilities in emergency contexts.
3.3:
Prioritise safety and dignity of older people and people with disabilities during all phases of humanitarian action, and avoid causing harm.

Guidance notes

Guidance for key action 3.1: Strengthen the capacity and leadership of older people and people with disabilities, and their representative organisations, to contribute to inclusive preparedness, response and recovery.

Strengthen the capacities and leadership of individual older people and people with disabilities. For example:

support them as speakers, moderators and participants in coordination mechanisms, such as clusters and working groups; and
involve them in organising assessments, training, or focus groups discussions, for example when discussing issues such as preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence.⁹

Support the leadership role of DPOs and OPAs. For example:

provide opportunities for capacity building on inclusive humanitarian action; and
support these organisations to advocate with humanitarian actors, such as local governments, UN agencies, NGOs, or the local community, for the rights of older people and people with disabilities.

If there are no organisations representing older people and people with disabilities, help to set them up. Support them to take part in decision-making about humanitarian action, and more generally, about issues affecting the lives of older people and people with disabilities. Also support them to monitor how far the rights of older people and people with disabilities are being protected, and to advocate for more inclusive humanitarian action.

Independent living and support of other people

Do not assume that older people and people with disabilities depend on other people to access assistance and services. Take measures to adapt assistance and services in a way that enables older people and people with disabilities to access them safely by themselves.

Some older people and people with disabilities will require support from a family member, caregiver or support network. In this case, ask them to identify someone that they trust and that they have chosen to support them. Make sure they do not become separated from them.

Guidance for key action 3.2: Identify, assess and mitigate risks faced by older people and people with disabilities in emergency contexts.

Involve women and men with disabilities of different ages, older people, and their representative organisations, in assessing and monitoring risks that have resulted from the humanitarian crisis, and risks that could result from the response. For example, include older people and people with disabilities in community assessment committees.

Identify groups of people who are more exposed to these risks. Involve them in risk assessments and monitoring. These groups could be women or girls with disabilities; older people with disabilities; older people or people with disabilities who may be at risk because of their sexual orientation or gender identity; or adults and children with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. Collaborate with the organisations that are already in contact with them.

Find out what older people and people with disabilities can do to mitigate the risks they face in humanitarian crises. For example, recruit women with disabilities or older women to raise awareness of community gender-based violence.

Systematically monitor humanitarian action to make sure that it is not exposing older people or people with disabilities to additional risks or harm.¹⁰ For example, where staff have not been sensitised to inclusion, they may have negative attitudes towards older people and people with disabilities. This may put older people and people with disabilities more at risk of discrimination and contribute to reinforcing stigma in the community.

Consider how measures designed to enable older people and people with disabilities to access assistance and protection could put them more at risk. For example, prioritising them for assistance could stigmatise them or put them at risk of theft or even violence.¹¹

Plan how to mitigate these risks. For example, organise safe distribution schemes. Raise awareness in the community of the importance of prioritising older people and people with disabilities for assistance and protection.

Raise awareness of the risks of violence, abuse and exploitation faced by older people and people with disabilities in emergencies. Make sure that people understand how this might be different for women, men, girls and boys and people with other gender identities. Ensure that people know what mechanisms exist for reporting risks and incidents (see Protection inclusion standards).

Guidance for key action 3.3: Prioritise safety and dignity of older people and people with disabilities during all phases of humanitarian action, and avoid causing harm.

Review your plans to take into account the safety and dignity of older people and people with disabilities. For example:

choose a safe location for facilities and services;
arrange activities in a way that keeps families or other support groups together, and enables people from the same village or support network to stay together;
ask older people (women and men) and people with disabilities (women, men, girls and boys) if they can access services safely, to identify whether you need to make these services safer – for example, ask them if they have to travel at night to reach a distribution point in time; and
consider using outreach to consult groups that might be more at risk of abuse, such as people with intellectual disabilities or people at risk because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Ensure confidentiality in consultations and avoid contributing to stigma against these groups.

Respect confidentiality when you collect feedback or sensitive data from older people and people with disabilities.

Promote safety and dignity in the organisation

Implement policies that promote inclusion and prevent discrimination, sexual exploitation, and all forms of abuse of older people and people with disabilities, including financial, physical or psychological abuse and neglect. Develop new policies or adapt existing policies if necessary.

Train staff and partners to:

promote the safety and protect the dignity of older people and people with disabilities;
prevent discrimination against older people and people with disabilities;
safely identify people who have experienced violence, abuse or exploitation, and refer them to the appropriate case management agencies;
recognise heightened risks for some groups – for example, girls and women with disabilities of all ages, and older women, could be put at more risk of sexual exploitation and abuse, including by humanitarian workers; and
promote a positive image of older people and people with disabilities in all communication materials.

Tools and resources

Global Protection Cluster, Protection Mainstreaming Toolkit: field testing version, Global Protection Cluster, 2017, http://bit.ly/2kFlRgJ

Inter-Agency Standing Committee, Minimum Operating Standards: Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by own Personnel (MOS-PSEA), Inter-Agency Standing Committee, 2016, http://bit.ly/2oIUs2L (18 December 2017)

Case study

Linking preparedness, response and resilience

Christian Aid works to support communities in becoming more resilient to disasters. Its approach is to support communities and individuals, empowering them to identify and manage risks that are relevant to their own contexts, and therefore be able to respond to shocks and disasters. This includes, for example, applying for group-based micro-grants or requesting support for skills development.

Having begun to work on inclusion, and identifying that older people and people with disabilities were not being routinely included in their resilience programming, Christian Aid set about introducing tools and skills training to strengthen its approaches.

Christian Aid took the opportunity of piloting programmes in Philippines, Myanmar and Kenya, which were working to bridge gaps between preparedness, response and resilience and introduce tools for inclusion. For example, with the help of communications tools, training was provided to teams on how to talk and listen respectfully to older people and people with disabilities and encourage their participation in the activities.

By broadening their approach to include older people and people with disabilities, it enabled them to reach and communicate with diverse community members; older people and people with disabilities were better placed to take part in community mobilisation programmes and therefore form part of the applications for grants and skills development.

Christian Aid found that grassroots, women-led initiatives, particularly from older women, were emerging to respond to psychosocial and protection needs within their communities. By working with current programmes and introducing communications tools, Christian Aid was able to directly inﬂuence programmes to better reach those most at risk.

Source: Christian Aid UK

Key inclusion standard 4: Knowledge and participation

Older people and people with disabilities know their rights and entitlements, and participate in decisions that affect their lives.

Key actions

4.1:
Provide accessible information about rights and entitlements.
4.2:
Promote the meaningful participation of older people and people with disabilities in decision-making.

Guidance notes

Guidance for key action 4.1: Provide accessible information about rights and entitlements.

Identify people who can help you deliver information on rights and entitlements in an accessible way, such as DPOs, OPAs, community-based organisations or community leaders. Involve organisations that represent the most at-risk groups. In some contexts, these may be girls, women with disabilities and older women, as well as people at risk because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Involve a diverse group of older people, people with disabilities and their representative organisations in designing and delivering information about their rights and entitlements. Include women, children and youth with disabilities, people with intellectual disabilities, and older people with disabilities to make sure your messages reach these groups.

Draw on national and/or international legal frameworks to develop messages on rights and entitlements. These may be the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and/or national laws or policies on the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities.

When providing information:

make sure it is easy to read and understand;
use different formats and communication channels (see Key inclusion standard 2, Guidance notes on information barriers);
speak directly to older people and people with disabilities, not to the person who may be accompanying them; and
use terms to describe older people and people with disabilities that do not stigmatise them (see Box 5 ‘Terminology’ below). Work with DPOs and OPAs to select the best terms to use.

When monitoring and evaluating your programme, assess how effective your communication has been. Assess changes in the awareness of older people and people with disabilities about their rights and entitlements.

Do not assume that a particular communication method is suitable for a particular group. For example, not everyone who is deaf or hard of hearing can use sign language or read. Not everyone with a visual impairment can use Braille. Even in areas with high literacy rates, literacy skills may vary considerably and are often lower in older age groups.

Informed consent

Informed consent is permission given by someone on the basis of accurate information that they have clearly understood.

Provide information to older people and people with disabilities that they can easily understand, so that they can decide themselves to agree (or disagree) with actions that affect their lives.

When you interview older people and people with disabilities, pay particular attention to maintaining confidentiality and protecting their privacy. In cases when older people and people with disabilities require the support of another person, such as a family member or caregiver, this may mean keeping the interview private from this person.

Support the right of older people and people with disabilities to make their own informed choices. For example, use augmentative or alternative communication (see Glossary) or sign language interpretation.

Guidance for key action 4.2: Promote the meaningful participation of older people and people with disabilities in decision-making.

Work with older people and people with disabilities, and their representative organisations, to identify and remove barriers that may prevent them from participating in decision-making. Build their capacities whenever needed, to support their full participation.

Sensitise the community and other organisations on the right of older people and people with disabilities to participate in decision-making that affects them.

Monitor how older people (both women and men) and people with different types of disabilities (women, men, girls and boys) take part in decision-making.

Meaningful participation in meetings

Arrange meetings and consultations in a way that allows older people and people with disabilities to participate fully.

For example:

plan meetings with older people, people with disabilities and their representative organisations;
ensure diversity and gender balance among participants and in the meeting organising team;
if necessary, arrange meetings with certain groups only, if it means they will be able to participate better – for example, consider arranging women-only meetings if you know that women will feel uncomfortable in a mixed group;
invite people with different types of disability; support people who may face communication barriers to participate fully, such as people who are deaf or hard of hearing, or people with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities;
make sure the venue is accessible: visit the venue in advance with representatives of local DPOs and OPAs, ask them to specify any barriers to full participation (see Key inclusion standard 1, Key action 1.1, Guidance note on data on barriers and enablers), adapt the venue if necessary, and use the opportunity to raise the venue provider’s awareness of these barriers and the rights of older people and people with disabilities;
provide information before, during and after the meeting in different formats; and
if any older people or people with disabilities require someone to accompany them, make provision for this person – for example, provide this person with extra space and/or a transportation allowance.

Tools and resources

Meetings and consultations

CBM, Tool: Accessible meetings or events, CBM, http://bit.ly/2BFBu23 (18 December 2017)

Attitudes

CBM, Humanitarian Hands-on Tool (HHoT), Attitude task card, CBM, http://bit.ly/2oIV6gH (18 December 2017)

Terminology

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), General Guidance: Including children with disabilities in humanitarian action, UNICEF, 2017, p82, http://bit.ly/2zjrqtJ

Information

Inclusion Europe, Information for all: European standards for making information easy to read and understand, Brussels, Inclusion Europe, 2009, http://bit.ly/2CWSE9e

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG, published 2005, updated 2017, http://bit.ly/26rBb27 (15 December 2017)

Participation

CBM, Active Participation: Key to Inclusion: Testimonies from Humanitarian Workers with Disabilities, CBM, 2016, http://bit.ly/2kdLs0w

HelpAge International, Older people in community development: The role of older people’s associations (OPAs) in enhancing local development, HelpAge International, 2009, http://bit.ly/2kczch1

Box 5

Terminology

The language you use to describe people is very important. It can either empower them or discriminate against them. Using inappropriate language can reinforce stereotypes. To describe older people and people with disabilities:

use person-first terminology: put the person first, then the disability – for example: “person with disability”, not “disabled person”, or “the disabled”;
use “older person/people”, not “elderly person” or “the elderly”;
avoid terms that are outdated or that reinforce stigma, such as “handicapped”, “sufferer” and “victim”; use “wheelchair user”, not “wheelchair bound” or “confined to a wheelchair”;
avoid using acronyms to refer to people – for example, use “persons with disabilities” (not PWD), “children with disabilities” (not CWD), or “older persons/people” (not OP);
use “persons/people without disabilities”, not “normal” or “regular” persons; and
use “people who are deaf or hard of hearing”, not “people with hearing impairments”.

Case study

Building an inclusive camp in Haiti

After the 2010 Earthquake in Port Au Prince, Haiti, two million people were displaced. This included refugees with disabilities, predominantly Deaf people and Hard of Hearing people.

In times of crisis, there is limited access to information and communication. With no communication system in place, Deaf people are often the last to find out about food, water, shelter, and other basic needs. Misunderstandings regarding people’s health, needs and capacities can also occur.

International Deaf Emergency (IDE), an organisation run by and for persons with disabilities, worked in Port Au Prince to mitigate some of these barriers. They provided status reports and news updates using sign language. For those who were not able to sign, they provided the tools necessary to learn. There were also physical improvements made to facilitate communications, such as providing solar panel street lighting in camps, to enable Deaf people to communicate after sundown.

Beyond these communication interventions, IDE also helped to ensure that people with disabilities were included in other interventions, by providing resources and networking. For example, upon invitation from organisations serving Deaf and Hard of Hearing people, IDE brought in Deaf professionals trained in emergency relief and preparation, nutrition and health, inclusive education, human rights, job training, and other related fields to provide services. They also helped to create opportunities for Deaf people to use their capacities during the recovery phase, such as building shelters, collecting wood, and distributing small business development tools among families.

Through the interventions of IDE, people with disabilities in the Haiti response were able to better receive information on the situation, communicate their own needs and capacities, and participate in rebuilding efforts.

Source: International Deaf Emergency, written communication

Key inclusion standard 5: Feedback and complaints

Older people and people with disabilities have access to safe and responsive feedback and complaints mechanisms.

Key actions

5.1:
Design feedback and complaints mechanisms that can be understood and accessed by older people and people with disabilities.
5.2:
Act on feedback and complaints from older people and people with disabilities in a way that respects their safety, dignity and rights.

Guidance notes

Guidance for key action 5.1: Design feedback and complaints mechanisms that can be understood and accessed by older people and people with disabilities.

Ask older people and people with disabilities what they feel are the safest and most appropriate ways for them to provide feedback and make complaints.

When designing feedback and complaints mechanisms:

plan and budget for different communication channels and information formats (see Key inclusion standard 2, Guidance notes on information barriers) – this includes using simple language and easy-to-use feedback forms; and
support older people and people with disabilities to submit feedback and complaints on their own behalf; alternatively, if an older person or a person with a disability requires and authorises someone else to do this, allow them to appoint another person, such as a caregiver, personal assistant, or family member, to submit their feedback or complaint on their behalf.

Inform older people and people with disabilities of the purpose of feedback and complaints mechanisms and explain how they work. For example:

raise their awareness of their right to make complaints and submit feedback on an equal basis with everyone else;
explain what they can expect from humanitarian organisations;
explain what issues they may or may not address through the feedback and complaints mechanism;
explain how they can submit feedback and complaints, and how their submissions will be processed.

Guidance for key action 5.2: Act on feedback and complaints from older people and people with disabilities in a way that respects their safety, dignity and rights.

Handle complaints as part of an organisational culture that respects the dignity, rights and capacities of older people and people with disabilities.

Follow organisational policies that recognise and respect the rights of older people and people with disabilities. Adapt organisational policies if they are not inclusive of these groups.

Make staff aware that older people and people with disabilities have the right to submit feedback and complaints on an equal basis with everyone else.

Train staff to support older people and people with disabilities to submit feedback and complaints safely. Train them to:

maintain confidentiality: only share information with a family member, caregiver or someone else with the explicit permission of the older person or person with disability, and avoid sharing personal details;
collect information from older people and people with disabilities, and document and validate their experiences in an objective and non-judgemental way – for example, the experiences of some older people and people with disabilities, such as children or people with intellectual disabilities, may be perceived as inaccurate or unreliable;
safely identify and refer older people and people with disabilities reporting violence, abuse and exploitation; this will help them obtain appropriate care and support, and avoid further harm (see Protection inclusion standard 2); and
follow all standard protection procedures when an older person or a person with a disability complains of violence, abuse or exploitation perpetrated by a humanitarian actor.

Adapt your programme to respond to the feedback you have received.

Share feedback and complaints with national and international partners involved in humanitarian action, respecting the confidentiality and privacy of older people and people with disabilities who have submitted this feedback.

Invite older people and people with disabilities to input into your review and validate the adaptations you have made to your programme.

Case study

Help desks in Kenya

Severe drought in Turkana, northern Kenya, has led to food shortages among pastoral and agricultural communities. Older people, children and people with disabilities are especially at risk.

HelpAge International has been distributing cash grants to 3,000 households with people aged over 60 in nine areas, so that they can replace lost livestock, start small businesses and buy essentials.

HelpAge established a “help desk committee” in each area to enable people to comment or complain about the project. Each committee is made up of two men and two women (to encourage women, who do not normally have the opportunity to speak out, to come forward). Committee members include older and younger adults to benefit from a mix of knowledge and skills.

HelpAge introduced the idea of the help desks to community leaders in each area. The leaders called open meetings at which HelpAge staff explained the roles and responsibilities of the help desk committees and committee members were elected.

The help desks are publicised through community meetings and during cash distributions. Most enquiries and complaints are handled by the volunteers, such as questions about who is eligible, and lack of identification to prove eligibility.

The help desks have led to improvements in the project, such as ensuring that the right people are receiving grants, and changing from regular, smaller cash transfers to larger, lump sums in response to requests by recipients.

Source: Njuguna, I. ‘Help desks in Kenya’ Ageways. Practical issues in ageing and development, Issue 82, March 2014, p16 (edited), http://bit.ly/2yRU69J

Key inclusion standard 6: Coordination

Older people and people with disabilities access and participate in humanitarian assistance that is coordinated and complementary.

Key actions

6.1:
Make sure that inter-agency coordination mechanisms are representative of older people and people with disabilities, and are accessible to them.
6.2:
Routinely address the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities in inter-agency coordination mechanisms.

Guidance notes

Guidance for key action 6.1: Make sure that inter-agency coordination mechanisms are representative of older people and people with disabilities, and are accessible to them.

Support older people, people with disabilities and their representative organisations to participate meaningfully in inter-agency coordination mechanisms, including meetings and working groups. For example:

hold preparatory meetings with groups of older people, people with disabilities and their representative organisations; in these meetings, explain how the coordination mechanisms work, how they can participate and what will be expected of them;
support these groups to plan how they will input into the coordination meetings; and
involve women and men equally. Involve people with different types of disabilities, including people with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities. For example, set up gender-balanced support groups to make sure all groups are represented.

Raise the awareness of people responsible for developing coordination mechanisms about the right of older people and people with disabilities to be involved in their development.

When arranging meetings:

choose an accessible venue;
provide information in accessible formats (see Key inclusion standard 4, Key action 4.1, Guidance notes on providing accessible information); and
provide reasonable accommodation to allow everyone to participate fully – for example, provide certified sign language interpretation and/or a live captioning service.

Monitor the participation of older people and people with disabilities in coordination mechanisms. This includes reviewing the gender balance and how well people with different types of disabilities are represented.

Guidance for key action 6.2: Routinely address the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities in inter-agency coordination mechanisms.

Define how issues related to the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities will be addressed and identify roles and responsibilities.

Focal points and working groups

Identify a focal point or set up a working group to coordinate measures to include older people and people with disabilities in the strategies and workplans of coordination mechanisms.

If a focal point or working group already exists, make sure they are prepared to play a role in coordination mechanisms. If there is no focal point or working group, help to set them up. Support focal points or working groups to obtain resources to build their knowledge and skills on inclusion.

Put the focal point or working group in touch with focal points or working groups working on other cross-cutting issues, such as gender or protection mainstreaming. This way, they can complement each other’s work.

You can allocate the following tasks to a focal point or working group:

systematically address issues related to older people and people with disabilities as part of the agenda of coordination mechanisms – a possible entry point could be to integrate these into the protection mainstreaming agenda;¹²
include components on inclusion in all terms of reference, concept notes and funding proposals, needs assessments and plans, such as budgets for reasonable accommodation and accessible services;
provide technical support or links to guidance on how to collect and analyse data disaggregated by sex, age and disability;
support the focal point or working group to map and assess resources and expertise in inclusion of older people and people with disabilities; and
contribute to monitoring and evaluation activities to assess how inclusion of older people and people with disabilities is being addressed.

Remember: focal points or working groups are not solely responsible for including older people and people with disabilities in coordination mechanisms. Everyone involved in humanitarian action shares this responsibility.

Referral mechanisms

Establish systems for referring issues related to the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities to the appropriate humanitarian actors, service providers, DPOs and OPAs.

When you map humanitarian services:

include organisations with expertise in the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities, or that provide services to them – for example, include government departments, DPOs, OPAs, specialist organisations, or education or health service providers;
assess how accessible and coordinated these services are – if necessary, sensitise service providers to make services more accessible and inclusive; and
share your mapping information with all relevant organisations, including those responsible for coordination mechanisms.

Identify services that are not accessible to older people or people with disabilities. Recommend how to make them accessible.¹³

Advise coordination bodies on how to disaggregate data by sex, age and disability. Explain how information on the barriers that older people and people with disabilities may face to accessing services can be used to plan a coordinated response.

Sensitise staff working on coordination and referral mechanisms on gender issues and inclusion of older people and people with disabilities (see Key inclusion standard 8, Guidance notes on building capacity of staff, section on sensitisation).

Make sure the referral mechanism can be used by older people and people with disabilities. For example, provide information about it in different formats, or provide allowances to pay for transport from one service to another if needed.

Case study

Ageing and Disability Task Force during the response to Typhoon Haiyan

Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) struck the Philippines in November 2013. As part of the emergency response, an Ageing and Disability Task Force (ADTF) was set up under the Protection Cluster. Early reports on persons with disabilities affected by the disaster were incomplete and lacking in detail. The first task of the ADTF was to make sure that data collection was consistent and reﬂected issues related to age, gender and disability. Mapping of services for persons with disabilities was carried out in partnership with the health cluster in order to establish referral pathways. Another aim of the ADTF was to build the capacity of mainstream organisations to include disability and ageing issues in their response. This includes training and technical support.

A similar approach has been tested in other locations, most notably in Pakistan, where the ADTF was established following the floods in 2010 and counted ten organisations (international and local) among its members.^*

*

A report and resource book from the ADTF in Pakistan was published in 2011. See http://www.cbm.org/article/downloads/54741/ADTF_Report.pdf

Source: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, All Under One Roof, Disability-inclusive shelter and settlements in emergencies, Geneva, IFRC, 2015, http://bit.ly/2Bt4FCZ

Key inclusion standard 7: Learning

Organisations collect and apply learning to deliver more inclusive assistance.

Key actions

7.1:
Identify and document learning, challenges and opportunities for including older people and people with disabilities in humanitarian action.
7.2:
Use the learning to improve the way you provide inclusive humanitarian assistance.
7.3:
Share learning, good practice and innovation, both within your organisation and with other organisations, such as project partners, national organisations and authorities.

Guidance notes

Guidance for key action 7.1: Identify and document learning, challenges and opportunities for including older people and people with disabilities in humanitarian action.

Document not only successes, but also any challenges and failures, as you will learn valuable lessons from these. Involve older people and people with disabilities in collecting learning. Draw on their experience and often innovative ways of overcoming barriers to accessing services and participating in the response.

Ensure that criteria for participation in monitoring and evaluation teams includes expertise in inclusion, particularly relating to age and disability.

Use accessible tools and methodologies to document learning.

Ask older people and people with disabilities to review your reports, to make sure their experience is reﬂected.

Guidance for key action 7.2: Use the learning to improve the way you provide inclusive humanitarian assistance.

Use the learning to make recommendations for current and future projects.

Regularly update your organisation’s tools (including training tools) and policies in response to what you have learnt.

Discuss with older people and people with disabilities how to overcome challenges and failures, and build on good practice.

Guidance for key action 7.3: Share learning, good practice and innovation, both within your organisation and with other organisations, such as project partners, national organisations and authorities.

Share lessons learnt and good practice with colleagues in your organisation. Advocate for further changes to organisational systems or processes that support the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities.

Use global data exchange platforms to share lessons learnt. For example, consider the Humanitarian Data Exchange, an open platform to share data promoted by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Share lessons learnt and good practice with the crisis-affected community, including older people and people with disabilities, to make sure your findings reﬂect their views.

Also share lessons with project partners and agencies coordinating response mechanisms, to contribute to wider learning.

Tools and resources

Collecting learning

Women’s Refugee Commission and International Rescue Committee, Building Capacity for Disability Inclusion in Gender-Based Violence Programming in Humanitarian Settings: Tool 12: Documenting “Stories of Change”, Women’s Refugee Commission, http://bit.ly/2BsUEpq

Sharing learning

Humanitarian Data Exchange, https://data.humdata.org

Case study

Applying learning to deliver a more inclusive response

An agreement in 2009 between Concern Worldwide and USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance established a funding mechanism called Responding to Pakistan’s Internally Displaced (RAPID). Concern Worldwide Pakistan has been applying practices that help include older people and people with disabilities, as they respond to small-scale emergencies in Pakistan through RAPID funds.

During the initial RAPID response in 2015, the opportunity was taken to collect data disaggregated by sex, age and disability. However, villagers voiced concerns about sharing information on disabilities, due to taboos and a sense of shame around the subject.

During the second RAPID response, the community participated in discussions around the data collection process and what it would be used for. The team also reviewed the beneficiary selection criteria, to be sure that the groups most at risk of exclusion were being prioritised during assessments. The community now reported feeling assured that Concern and its partners were genuinely interested in identifying barriers to accessing services.

By the third response, significant changes towards inclusion were being reported. For example, RAPID changed its approach to installing hand pumps.

Starting in this project area, all hand pumps would be built in an accessible manner, and this would be taken forward in other project areas.

A review of the RAPID fund noted that what started with the collection of disaggregated data led to a comprehensive delivery of a response designed with the whole community in mind. The inclusive nature of this response is reﬂected in the engagement of the community throughout, as they provided input and feedback, and directly inﬂuenced the project to improve the relevance to those most at risk.

Documentation from the response team highlighted the importance of planning and resourcing for the sensitisation of both staff and the community on inclusion.

Source: Concern Worldwide, Pakistan

Key inclusion standard 8: Human resources

Staff and volunteers have the appropriate skills and attitudes to implement inclusive humanitarian action, and older people and people with disabilities have equal opportunities for employment and volunteering in humanitarian organisations.

Key actions

8.1:
Build the capacity of staff and volunteers by raising awareness of the rights of older people and people with disabilities and training them to include older people and people with disabilities in humanitarian action.
8.2:
Implement inclusive human resources policies.

Guidance notes

Guidance for key action 8.1: Build the capacity of staff and volunteers by raising awareness of the rights of older people and people with disabilities and training them to include older people and people with disabilities in humanitarian action.

Sensitisation

Carry out awareness-raising sessions with staff and volunteers at all levels to encourage them to change their attitudes and take an interest in inclusion.

Include sessions on the rights of older people and people with disabilities, and the barriers they face to participating in humanitarian action.

Collaborate with older people, people with disabilities and their representative organisations to design and deliver these sessions.

Training

Design training for staff and volunteers to improve their skills in including older people and people with disabilities.

Practical skills could either relate to cross-cutting issues, such as disaggregating data by sex, age and disability, or sector-specific issues. For example, staff working on shelter programmes could be trained to prevent and manage risks of violence and abuse that older people and people with disabilities may face when offered shelter.

Integrate modules on inclusion of older people and people with disabilities into your organisation’s staff training programmes.

Draw on others’ expertise where necessary. Identify experts locally, nationally or internationally who can help you develop and deliver training. These may be DPOs, OPAs, government ministries, national or international NGOs working on the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities, or individual consultants.

Identify further training opportunities for staff and volunteers and provide additional guidance documents (see Tools and resources).

Guidance for key action 8.2: Implement inclusive human resources policies.

Implement organisational policies that consider:

measures to ensure equal remuneration and equal opportunities for work of equal value (such as adapting job application procedures and allowing ﬂexible work schedules);
measures to protect older staff and volunteers, and staff and volunteers with disabilities, from being discriminated against or harassed because of their gender, age or disability; and
accessibility of the workplace and reasonable accommodation (see Key inclusion standard 2, Guidance note on addressing barriers).

If your organisation does not have adequate policies in place, use relevant international and national policies on the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities in the workplace (see Tools and resources).

Tools and resources

Age and Disability Capacity Programme (ADCAP), Basic Principles of Disability Inclusion in Humanitarian Response, Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation, 2015 (available in English and Arabic at www.disasterready.org)

Age and Disability Capacity Programme (ADCAP), Comprehensive Accessible Humanitarian Assistance for Older People and People with Disabilities, Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation, 2017 (available in English and Arabic at www.disasterready.org)

Age and Disability Capacity Programme (ADCAP), Inclusion of age and disability in humanitarian action: a two-day training course:

Learner’s Workbook, RedR, on behalf of the Age and Disability Consortium, 2017, http://bit.ly/2AQGVrm
Training Handbook, RedR, on behalf of the Age and Disability Consortium, 2017, http://bit.ly/2B7VcUO
Training Slideshow, RedR, on behalf of the Age and Disability Consortium, http://bit.ly/2BGD7wF

Age and Disability Capacity Programme (ADCAP), Understanding Older People and Their Needs in a Humanitarian Context, Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation, www.disasterready.org, 2015 (available in English and Arabic)

CBM, Disability-Inclusive Development Toolkit, Bensheim, CBM, 2017, http://bit.ly/2lVei5A

UN General Assembly, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (A/RES/61/106), Article 27 – Work and employment, http://bit.ly/2jUp5in

Case study

Reasonable accommodation in the workplace

CBM is committed not only to delivering accessible and inclusive development programmes and projects but also to recruiting, retaining and developing professional staff with disabilities. This organisation advertises jobs as inclusive for people with disabilities and makes efforts to ensure that staff with disabilities receive the reasonable accommodations they need in order to do their jobs. Reasonable accommodation is not about fulfilling the personal preferences of people with disabilities, it is about providing what is required to ensure that people with a disability can participate on an equal basis with others.

The director of the International Advocacy and Alliances team comments: “CBM was aware of what was possible and what needed to be done. I had to give them a bit of information on how to acquire funding in Belgium to cover costs related to reasonable accommodation. But they were aware of the technology. I need screen-reader software and a device which translates the content of the screen into Braille.”

Another CBM staff member has received additional training and support to enable her to take up an important administrative role in the European Union Liaison Office. She comments: “In Belgium, there is a lack of interpreters for people who are deaf. At CBM, they understand my situation, and are there to help me and give additional training with additional support. This develops my ability to work.”

Another staff member, who works as an EU policy officer, adds: “It is critical that inclusive policies and practices are first established in-house to be able to set the example. Employing competent people with disabilities is crucial for this. The inclusion of people with disabilities, including women, at all levels of the organisation is fundamental to raise awareness in CBM’s staff and management team about inclusion, to break down the internal barriers which still challenge the participation of people with disabilities, and to reinforce the diversity and richness of the CBM’s workforce.”

Source: CBM, Disability Inclusive Development Toolkit, 2014

In 2017, CBM put the commitment to promoting an inclusive workplace into practice, by adopting an inclusive recruitment policy. To find out more, see: https://www.cbm.org/article/downloads/54741/CBM_Inclusion_Policy_Framework.pdf

Key inclusion standard 9: Resources management

Older people and people with disabilities can expect that humanitarian organisations are managing resources in a way that promotes inclusion.

Key actions

9.1:
Manage resources in a way that allows older people and people with disabilities to have access to services and participate in humanitarian action.
9.2:
Share information on your use of resources with older people and people with disabilities and provide opportunities for their feedback.

Guidance notes

Guidance for key action 9.1: Manage resources in a way that allows older people and people with disabilities to have access to services and participate in humanitarian action.

Financial resources

Include a line for reasonable accommodation and accessibility in all your budgets, starting from the design phase.

Track expenditure on measures to include older people and people with disabilities. This will help you see if enough funding has been allocated and whether it has been used appropriately.

Procuring supplies

Make it a priority to procure goods, equipment and facilities that follow the principles of universal design, both for your own premises and for those of your partners. Apply the same principles to the procurement of food and non-food items.

When procuring assistive technology, consider coordinating with other organisations, such as community-based organisations, DPOs, OPAs or local service providers. This could help you manage resources more effectively.¹⁴

Whenever possible, obtain equipment locally.

Implementing and monitoring policies

Develop inclusive resource management policies. Adapt existing policies, or develop new policies if necessary.

Carry out an audit of your organisation’s performance in terms of inclusion. Develop an action plan to improve implementation of policies and use of resources.¹⁵

Adapt programme tools, for example, for data collection, needs assessments or selection criteria, to enable you to disaggregate data by sex, age and disability and identify barriers to access and participation.

Develop specific indicators and targets on inclusion (gender, age and disability) to measure how well resources have been used to reach the affected population. For example, develop indicators on the percentage of accessible shelters, or the number of older people and people with disabilities (women, men, girls and boys) accessing food distribution schemes.

Adopt a twin-track approach to including older people and people with disabilities in your work. This means both organising specific interventions targeted at older people and people with disabilities, to support their inclusion, and integrating age-and disability-sensitive measures into all policies and programmes, at all stages.

Assign a member of staff to advocate for older people and people with disabilities to be included in your organisation’s work, for example, in programme funding submissions and budgets for office renovations.

Put strategies in place to provide funding or cost-sharing to DPOs, OPAs and other community-based organisations, including organisations representing groups that are most at risk of exclusion.

Guidance for key action 9.2: Share information on your use of resources with older people and people with disabilities and provide opportunities for their feedback.

Provide information in different formats about how your organisation is using its resources to enable older people and people with disabilities to access services and take part in decision-making. Also provide information about your organisation’s performance against indicators and targets (see Key inclusion standard 2, Guidance notes on information barriers).

Support older people and people with disabilities to share their feedback on how your organisation is using its resources:

let them know how to submit feedback and how you will follow up the issues they have raised;
plan accessible communication channels for older people and people with disabilities to submit their feedback, and budget for these;
act on the feedback you receive; and
ask those who have submitted feedback to comment on how your organisation has responded.

For more guidance, see Key inclusion standard 5, Guidance notes on designing feedback and complaints mechanisms.

Case study

Cross-organisational working to promote inclusion

Through its humanitarian programming, Islamic Relief Worldwide specifically reaches out to groups that are most at risk.

An organisational assessment in 2015, however, highlighted gaps in the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities in their organisational practices. A review of programme tools that followed found specific areas where inclusive practices could be strengthened. For example, the needs assessment tool used by the organisation did not require age-related data to be disaggregated beyond fifty years of age, and had no scope to collect information on people with disabilities.

Taking the assessment and review as an opportunity to improve, an inclusivity and sensitivity working group was formed. This group brought together technical advisors from country teams to identify and address practices that were not inclusive.

The working group helped to enact many successful changes in the organisation. For example, needs assessment guidelines and rapid response assessment formats were revised to ensure that data collected was disaggregated by age, sex and disability. Organisational guidance, such as proposal formats, proposal writing guidelines and a results-based management manual, were also revised. Technical support was provided to field staff, and a training package on protection and inclusion was customised for staff.

The newly revised programme design tools have already helped to develop new projects with dedicated budget lines for inclusive practices. Working together to capture and share information across the organisation has helped Islamic Relief Worldwide to take tangible steps to embed inclusive practices in all aspects of their work.

Source: Islamic Relief Worldwide

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