Disability
The World Health Organisation estimates that persons with disabilities account for 7-10% of the world’s population. This would imply that there are three to four million persons living with disability among the world’s 42 million displaced. It is not (yet) common practice, however, to include people with disabilities among those who are considered as particularly vulnerable in disasters and displacement and who therefore require targeted response.
The resources below explain why disabled people who are displaced need particular consideration and highlight some of the initiatives taken (locally and globally) to change thinking and practices so that their vulnerability is recognised, their voices heard – and responses made inclusive.
This resource summary complements Forced Migration Review Issue 35, July 2010: Disability and Displacement. All articles in this issue are available online in PDF and Word format and as audio files. The Forced Migration Review website also offers links to free software to aid accessibility.
Provided below are links to related key resources, websites and documents exploring contemporary debate on these issues, as well as links to wider issues concerned with human rights and displacement.
FMO Resources
- Forced Migration Review: Disability and Displacement, Issue 35, (July 2010)
- Disability: A shared vision
- Disability in displacement
- Second African Decade of Persons with Disabilities
- Disabilities among refugees and conflict-affected populations
- Addressing the data challenge
- Vulnerability and disability in Darfur
- Perception and protection in Sri Lanka
- More than a ramp
- Shifting community views: reducing stigma in Dadaab
- Disability: Kakuma’s first raffle
- Displacement limbo in Sierra Leone
- The Convention: on paper and in practice
- New Zealand: beyond the quota
- Disability: Early engagement
- Failing London’s disabled refugees
- Reception of asylum seekers with disabilities in Europe
- Resettlement for disabled refugees
- Brokering the culture gap
- Education access for all
- Services and participation in Yemen
- Disability in the UN cluster system
- Negotiating inclusion in Sri Lanka
- Social inclusion: a Pakistan case-study
- In-house (dis)ability
- Disability: The case for a Conclusion
- Welcome to Luxembourg
Digital Library
Selected full-text documents (for more, search in the FMO Digital Library)
- Working Group on Children Affected by Armed Conflict and Displacement. 2000. "Child landmine survivors: an inclusive approach to policy and practice"
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 1996. "Assisting disabled refugees: a community-based approach"
- Thomas, J. 1996. "Population displacement, detention and ethnocide: an ethnographic inquiry into the conditions of Vietnamese asylum seekers detained in Hong Kong (1988 - 1994)"
- Blanck, P.D. 1995. "Disaster mitigation for persons with disabilities: fostering a new dialogue"
- Preston, R. Solomon, C. Kandando, D. Makanya, S. 1992. "The integration of returned exiles, former combatants and other war-affected Namibians"
- Paul, D. 1992. "A psychosocial support program for refugees and displaced persons in the former Yugoslavia"
- Rawlins, R.C. 1991. "Special needs and community care. Paper for workshop convened by the Rowntree Foundation on Race and Housing in Britain 4-5 April 1991, York University"
- Godfrey, N. 1986. "The health needs of elderly refugees: a field study in Eastern Sudan"
- Thomas, N. 1985. "Report from workshop to exchange experiences of psychosocial and psychotherapeutic work with disabled populations in Central America"
- Pankhurst, A.1982. "Vulnerable refugees in Eastern Sudan. Paper for Refugee Seminar"
Web Resources
Selected web-based information resources (for more, search the FMO website)
Websites:
- OHCHR. UN reports and studies on disability
- UN Enable Newsletter
- African Decade of Persons with Disabilities
- Disability.gov "Preparing for & Responding to Emergencies & Disasters"
- Red Cross. "Prepare.org" [People with disabilities: archived website]
Documents:
- World Vision International. 2009. "Including All Children: Guidelines for parents of children with disabilities"
- Inclusive Education and Disability Task Team. 2009. "Inclusive Education and Disability Task Team" [French] [Spanish]
- UNHCR 2009. "Lobbying paper" prepared for a UNHCR Executive Committee on Disability
- Women’s Refugee Commission. 2008. "Disabilities Among Refugees and Conflict-Affected Populations"
- Women’s Refugee Commission. 2008. "Disabilities: Resource Kit for Fieldworker"
- Women’s Refugee Commission. 2008. "Persons With Disabilities and the Humanitarian Response in Haiti"
- Lentz, K.L. 2008. "Final Report: Support to UNHCR and the Protection Cluster Working Group: Internally Displaced Persons with Disabilities"
- International Disability and Development Consortium. 2005. "Disability in Conflict and Emergency Situations: Focus on Tsunami Affected Areas"
- American Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). 2004. "Preparing for Disaster for People with Disabilities and other Special Needs"
- World Blind Union. 2004."Education for Persons with Disabilities"
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
- Disabled Peoples' International. 2006. "Ratification Toolkit" [French] [Spanish]
- Disabled Peoples' International. 2007. "Implementation Toolkit" [French] [Spanish]
- UN ENABLE. 2007. "Handbook for Parliamentarians on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" [French]
- OHCHR. 2010. "Monitoring the CRPD: Guidance for Human Rights Monitors"
- CRPD, UNICEF. 2008. "It’s About Ability - An explanation of the CRPD" (designed for children/young people aged 12–18) [French] [Spanish] [audio]
- CRPD, UNICEF. 2008. "It’s About Ability: Learning Guide" (designed for children/young people aged 12–18) [French] [Spanish] [audio]
- International Disability Alliance "CRPD Forum"
Relevant Organizations
Contact details for relevant organizations (for more, search in the Organizations Directory)
- Association for Aid and Relief (AAR)
- CBM
- CCS Disability Action
- Center for Capacity Building on Minorities with Disabilities Research
- Disabled People’s International
- Employers Forum on Disability
- Handicap International
- Survivor Corps
- The AIDS Support Organization
- Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees (ICAR)
- International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
- International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC)
- Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre
- Mapendo International
- Motivation
- Sightsavers
- Taikura Trust
- UNHCR
- World Health Organization (WHO)
- Women’s Refugee Commission
- World Blind Union
- World Vision
