The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the social protection response and recovery initiatives by countries in the South Asian Region towards people with disabilities from the perspective of DPOs.

Disclaimer: The following documents, resources and links included below are not from the International Disability Alliance and are provided for informational and advocacy purposes only. They do not constitute endorsement of or an approval by the International Disability Alliance of any of the products, services, or opinions of the corporation, organization, or individual. The International Disability Alliance bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the documents.

We are constantly updating this webpage, so please feel free to send in your resources for inclusion on the web page. Please send your resources directly to eyoussefian [at] ida-secretariat.org

In the light of the COVID19 pandemic and with the aim to support a disability-inclusive response to the crisis, International Disability Alliance (IDA) has launched this hub-page to share the most recent updates and resources as they become available. 

If you have any updates on how COVID 19 is affecting persons with disabilities in your area of work, or want to share any good practices or lessons learnt, contact IDA's inclusive humanitarian adviser, Elham Youssefian via eyoussefian [at] ida-secretariat.org.

International Disability Alliance Key Recommendations toward a Disability-Inclusive COVID19 Response

Read and download our key recommendations:

Translations (the following translations of the IDA key recommendations around Covid19 have been provided by external organisations and third parties. IDA bears no responsibility for the accuracy of the documents).

Our key recommendations include: 

  1. Persons with disabilities must receive information about infection mitigating tips, public restriction plans, and the services offered, in a diversity of accessible formats with use of accessible technologies
  2. Additional protective measures must be taken for people with certain types of impairment
  3. Rapid awareness raising and training of personnel involved in the response are essential
  4. All preparedness and response plans must be inclusive of and accessible to women with disabilities
  5. No disability-based institutionalization and abandonment is acceptable
  6. During quarantine, support services, personal assistance, physical and communication accessibility must be ensured
  7. Measures of public restrictions must consider persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others
  8. Persons with disabilities in need of health services due to COVID19 cannot be deprioritized on the ground of their disability
  9. OPDs can and should play a key role in raising awareness of persons with disabilities and their families.
  10. OPDs can and should play a key role in advocating for disability-inclusive response to the COVID19 crisis.