November 12, 2019 – 11.30am, New York
The International Disability Alliance, in cooperation with UNICEF and Humanity & Inclusion was pleased to announce the Global Launch of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action. The event took place on Tuesday 12 November 2019 at UNICEF House, New York City.
The launch of the Guidelines was welcomed by the Under-Secretary General and UN Secretary-General’s Advisor on Policy, Ms. Ana Maria Menéndez and Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Mr. Mark Lowcock. Among the speakers were the following persons with disabilities: Ms. Robinah Alambuya from Uganda and Ms. Mia Farah from Lebanon, who have shared their personal experience during humanitarian crises.
The Guidelines aim to ensure that all phases of humanitarian action are disability-inclusive. The Guidelines also emphasize that persons with disabilities should not only be recipients of humanitarian assistance, but they are also be empowered actors in humanitarian response.
For the very first time, the Guidelines were developed through a consultative process with contributions from over 600 stakeholders from the humanitarian and disability sectors, with a total of 14 global and regional multi-stakeholder face-to-face consultations, which included persons with disabilities. The Guidelines were endorsed by the IASC Principals in October 2019.
The celebratory, high-level event was attended by over 120 participants, representatives of member states, humanitarian and development actors and persons with disabilities and their representative organizations.
The next phase will focus on system-wide dissemination and implementation of the Guidelines.
