Why are we focusing on the inclusion of people with disabilities and older people?

The fundamental humanitarian principles of humanity and impartiality require that humanitarian actors include all people affected by crisis in their response activities. Yet we know that some people are systematically excluded. This includes people with disabilities and older people.

Although data on disability is not comprehensive, global estimates suggest 15% of people in a given population will have a disability or disabilities. In humanitarian settings, this proportion can be substantially higher. Indications from data collected using the Washington Group Questions in Syria, for example, show that up to 26% of the population has a disability.

Additionally, the world is experiencing significant ageing. Almost 1 in 10 people are over 60 years old.

Barriers to inclusion

People with disabilities and older people can face a range of barriers when it comes to inclusion in humanitarian response.

This includes barriers to accessing services, and to meaningfully participating in needs assessments, programme design, implementation and evaluation. Barriers arise due to a range of factors, including lack of accessible information, limited opportunities to provide feedback, a lack of training and capacity of humanitarian practitioners, un-standardised approaches to data collection and an overall lack of resources allocated to inclusive action.

In recent years, the humanitarian community has made some progress towards the inclusion of people with disabilities and older people. For example, through the development of the Humanitarian Inclusion Standards (HIS), which were published as a companion to the Sphere Handbook.

The HIS were designed to address a gap in understanding around inclusion in humanitarian action. They promote a rights-based approach that covers three main components of inclusion:

1. data and information management,
2. addressing barriers to inclusion,
3. participation of older people and people with disabilities, and strengthening of their capacities.

Our strategy

Our strategy includes a commitment to the inclusion of marginalised and excluded population groups within humanitarian response. As part of this commitment, the HIF has developed a new focus area on the inclusion of people with disabilities and older people.

Older people and people with disabilities are diverse and have diverse lived experiences. Older age and disability also intersect with each other, and we think that this intersection warrants further exploration and understanding in order to improve inclusion outcomes for a wide range of people.

This focus area will explore the barriers to and support opportunities for the inclusion of older people and people with disabilities in humanitarian response. We believe humanitarian innovation has much to contribute to this agenda and to generating a more effective and inclusive humanitarian response.

What next?

This means that we must continually consult, learn and iterate in what we do, which is a core principle of innovation. It means actively seeking out consultation with people with disabilities and older people. And it means recognising that Organisations for Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and Older People’s Associations can be at the forefront of inclusive action during a humanitarian crisis.

Overall, improving our understanding of the barriers to inclusion for people with disabilities and older people in humanitarian response means we can better uphold the principles of humanity and impartiality, and we can improve outcomes for all individuals affected by crises.