Piloting the IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action: disability inclusion in gender-based violence programming in Jordan, Sri Lanka, and Uganda

With funds received from the Australian government, the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) is supporting the work of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Task Team mandated to develop global Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, assuming a technical lead role to:

• ensure gender is mainstreamed across the IASC Disability Guidelines in consultation with humanitarian stakeholders;
• draft and pilot sector-specific guidance for GBV prevention and response actors on disability inclusion (completed in February 2019); and
• develop and deliver training packages to support the rollout and implementation of the IASC Disability Guidelines (planned in 2019-2020).

In accordance with Objective nr.2, it recently piloted disability inclusion in Gender-Based Violence Programming in Jordan, Sri-Lanka and Uganda. The pilot projects were implemented by Allianza por la Solidaridad (ApS), Family Planning Association (FPA), and the National Union of Women with Disabilities in Uganda (NUWODU), together with their consortium partners. The attached report summarises the main outcomes and learning documented by pilot partners implementing inclusive approaches in humanitarian action as set forth in the draft IASC Disability Guidelines (GBV section) to address the protection and empowerment of women and girls with disabilities. While the findings and recommendations are drawn from the GBV sector specific guidance, we believe they have relevance across other sectors and for all stakeholders.

The WRC is deeply grateful to Allianza por la Solidaridad (ApS), Family Planning Association (FPA), and the National Union of Women with Disabilities in Uganda (NUWODU) as well as the IASC Task Team and the Co-Chairs for their continued collaboration on this work.