Humanitarian Actors in NW Region commit to include Persons with Disabilities in their Activities
Management and Operational staff of some 15 Humanitarian agencies have been trained on inclusion in humanitarian systems. The training organized by the Disability Inclusive Humanitarian Action (DIHA) Project took place from March 3 -4, 2022 at the Baptist Center, Nkwen, Bamenda.
The training was aimed at providing participants with knowledge on disability inclusion by examining the statutes and concepts on which issues of disability are founded and strategies required to foster inclusion in the humanitarian project cycle management.
Welcoming participants to the workshop, the CBC Health Services Deputy Director in charge of Administration and Finance, Mr. Warri Denis among other things said the prevalence of disabilities is on the rise because of the humanitarian crisis and that persons with disabilities are more vulnerable during crisis and as a result, often excluded from many mainstream actions. Reason why the CBC Health Services is intentional in promoting the concept of disability inclusion which is key in the context of the humanitarian crisis. He urged the humanitarian actors to be intentional to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to their services as they respond to the needs of the affected populations in the context of the humanitarian crisis.
Presenting an overview of the DIHA Project, the Coordinator, Asheri Ngah told participants that while providing services in the areas of health and protection, the project is out to facilitate disability inclusion by humanitarian actors and also empower persons with disabilities to understand the humanitarian systems and be able to advocate for their inclusion.
In her presentation on Inclusive Humanitarian Action and Core inclusion standards, the CBM Country Office Humanitarian Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEAL) Officer Mokom Njang, told participants that according to the Inter – Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and other legal instruments, persons with disabilities are supposed to be included in all actions and at all levels.
She told participants that they can enhance disability inclusion in their humanitarian services by making their services accessible to persons with disabilities, capacity development of staff and persons with disabilities and through disability disaggregated data collection and monitoring for inclusion.
The participants were told that they can also practice disability inclusion by collaborating with Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) present in communities at divisional levels with representatives at the Coordinating Unit of Associations of persons with disabilities (CUAPWD) in the North West Region. These OPDs are available to share ideas on their rights and needs and their expectations about their inclusion in services/activities.
During the workshop, the participants received knowledge on understanding disability and types, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities, disability inclusive data collection, appropriate disability language and terminology. The workshop also enabled the participants to identify different barriers and gaps to disability inclusion in their services including bad attitudes, inaccessible venues, information and services, lack of policies and procedures for inclusion and absence of data on disability.
With knowledge gained from the workshop, the operational staff in their different Organisational action plans said they were going back to make their services disability inclusive by carrying out reasonable accommodation like choosing or making activity venues accessible, using appropriate disability language, disseminating information in accessible formats, making time adjustments, encouraging the participation of persons with disabilities and their personal assistants, and collaborating with OPDs among others.
Meanwhile, the Project Coordinator urged the management staff of the different local humanitarian agencies to go back and review their policies to be disability inclusive, build the capacity of their staff on disability inclusion, get data on persons with disabilities, appoint disability focal persons in their organisations and update their data collection tools to be disability inclusive.
In her closing remarks, the CBM Humanitarian Team MEAL Officer, Mokom Njang said she was overwhelmed by the active participation of the participants throughout the workshop. She said such interest in disability inclusion by the participants is a motivation to CBM to continue with their mission of promoting disability inclusion. She called on them to be meticulous in developing their action plans and to go back with an intention to put them into practice. It is expected that after the workshop, these humanitarian agencies will start practicing disability inclusion in their humanitarian response activities.
This workshop was the last of a series of trainings for organisations of persons with disabilities and international and local humanitarian organisations organised by the DIHA Project on the dynamics of humanitarian actions and disability inclusion in humanitarian activities. The aim of the trainings is to influence disability mainstreaming in humanitarian activities and the effective and meaningful contribution of persons with disabilities in inclusive humanitarian response.
The CBC Health Services DIHA Project’s effort in facilitating disability inclusive humanitarian assistance in the North West Region is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office through the Christian Blind Mission (CBM).