Disability inclusion
Disability inclusion is integrated throughout Australian Humanitarian Partnership responses, and resilience programming. We work closely with organisations of people with disability to design inclusive activities that meet local needs.
People with disabilities are best placed to assess their own preparedness, capabilities and support needs and their leadership is essential for ensuring the benefits of development are accessible and fully inclusive.
The empowerment and inclusion of people with disabilities is critical in humanitarian action, where persons with disabilities’ mortality rate can be two to four times higher than the rest of society when facing a disaster.
Studies have shown that when people with disabilities and/or their representative groups are included in assessments and decision-making for disaster preparedness and response, their priorities are more likely to be identified and addressed and their resilience improved.
Through Disaster READY and AHP responses, there is an explicit focus on disability inclusion. Organisations of people with disabilities are directly engaged in preparedness and response, and disability is a key criteria in assessing the best partners to respond to humanitarian crises.
Videos
Naomi Tai is the Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DI-DRR) Officer for People with Disabilities Solomon Islands, the National Organisation of Persons with Disabilities. Her role is supported by AHP, through the Disaster READY program.
As part of the AHP-supported COVID-19 response in Samoa, and with the support of CARE Australia, Samoa's national disability organisation Nuanua O Le Alofa worked with local NGO Women in Business Development Incorporated to distribute seedlings to 400 people with disabilities and their families.
With the support of Handicap International through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership response in Iraq, Nazar has established a local organisation for people with disabilities in Sinjar. The organisation works to provide supports and supplies, such as wheelchairs, crutches and prosthetics, connections to services, empowering people with disabilities to participate fully in society.
Field stories
Reports and resources
The report draws on two comparative case studies in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, as well as an extensive desk review of documents. It explores the roles and impact of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) in each country and identifies key challenges and enablers constraining and supporting OPDs’ contributions to the disaster preparedness and response sector, through a localisation lens.