By IDA

 - December 27, 2019

On Wednesday 18th December 2019, from 1:30 to 3:00 pm in Room XXV at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, the Women’s Refugees Commission and PLAN International, as co-leaders, organized the spotlight session "Not Just an Acronym! Age, Gender, Disability, and Diversity – What cross-cutting themes mean in practice". 

This event was organized with the support of the European Union, Australia, Norway, Canada and Finland and in collaboration of the International Disability Alliance, UNHCR, Global Youth Advisory Council, Adult Multicultural Education Services (AMES) Australia, Women’s Refugees Commission, OXFAM, HelpAge International, Global Refugees-led Network, Care international Canada, the Forced Migration Research Network University of New South Wales.

This spotlight session was held in the framework of the first-ever Global Refugees Forum (GRF) and sought to highlight the importance of taking an Age, Gender, Disability and Diversity approach (AGDD approach) in all areas of refugee protection, in particular, the six thematic areas addressed in the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) in order to achieve equality for diverse groups. 

The rich panel was moderated by Ms. Marjeta Jager, Deputy Director-General of the International Cooperation and Development of the European Commission and comprised by the following speakers:  

  • Ms. Nujeen Mustafa, Refugee Representative, UNHCR High Profile Supporter.

  • Ms. Azizah Noor, Refugee Representative, Gender Audit Team.
  • Dr. Melika Sheik-Eldin, Refugee Representative, AMES Australia.

  • Mr. John Vyabagabo, Refugee Representative, Tanzania (video).

  • Mr. Karim Albrm, Refugee Representative, Youth Ambassador at Plan International. 
  • Ms. Andrea Ayala, Refugee Representative, Human Rights Defender, Gender Audit Team. 

Each of the panelists highlighted the intersectional nature of privilege and discrimination they experienced and how the same issues can impact differently on individuals; they also shared their examples and known good practices, which led to a very enriching discussion. 

Ms. Nujeen Mustafa, UNHCR High Profile Supporter, supported by the International Disability Alliance, highlighted how the lack of preparedness by humanitarian actors to provide support to persons with disabilities creates barriers in accessing even the most basic services and led that people with disabilities are excluded from education and opportunities to increase self-reliance.  She also emphasized how this unpreparedness is the consequence of the lack of quality and disaggregated data: “Nobody knows how many persons with disabilities have arrived in a camp or a country. Lack of disaggregated data by age, gender and disability leads to the ‘invisibility’ of persons with disabilities in the assessment procedures: their needs are not identified, and thus they cannot be properly assisted” she stated. 

She stressed on the need of active involvement of refugees with disabilities and their representative organization. “They shall ask refugees with disabilities about their needs. But asking isn’t enough. Any attempt to improve the situation is doomed to fail without the meaningful participation and active involvement of people with disabilities, in particular of the most marginalized groups, in the planning, development and decision-making processes of all stages of the refugee response”.

She finally closed her statement with these meaningful words: “We are not asking for a favor to do that; this is our rights first of all”. 

 

The discussion then continues with Noor Azizah, which explained the barriers to participation faced by stateless refugees, refugee women and girls and how they are affected by the sexual gender-based violence.

The perspective of older refugee person has been shared thanks to the participation, through a pre-recorded video, of John Vyabagabo, which told his story and the barriers and stigma he faces as an older refugee. This presentation was then complemented by Melika Sheikh-Eldin, which shared her thoughts as an older refugee woman. 

Karim Albrm, as Youth Ambassador shared his personal experience supporting refugee children and advocating for the protection and the rights of refugee children and youth on a local, national and international level and focused his presentation on the need for mental health and psycho-social support and services across the entire AGDD spectrum. In particular, he highlighted the barriers faced by each category and across the AGDD group due to their mental health situation. 

The panel then followed with Andrea Ayala, which shared the issues faced by the LGBTQI+ refugee community. Among them, she discussed the loss of the social capital of the LGBTQI+ community, lack of a peer group and barriers to participation, and resettlement.

During the opening of the floor to all participants, some States, such as Australia, Finland, Norway and Canada, and other stakeholders presented their pledges and emphasized the importance of understanding the impact of intersecting characteristics on people’s displacement and acknowledged the AGDD approach as pivotal to ensure their commitment to protection of all refugees. The need for quality disaggregated data collection, as well as the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities during all stages of the humanitarian action, were also the topic of pledges and remarks raised from the floor. All the pledges made are available here.

Overall, the session brought consensus among all participants on the need to raise awareness of a gender, age, disability, and diversity analysis when considering solutions and, highlighted the importance of coordinated approaches among all the actors in refugee responses.