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Advancing rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action: a donor perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2022

Mina C. Mojtahedi ,
Riikka Mikkola  and
Niklas Saxén
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Abstract

Despite increasing awareness and high-level commitments on disability inclusion by humanitarian donors and actors, persons with disabilities continue to be ignored from humanitarian assistance. Rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities are a foreign policy priority for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, including in humanitarian assistance. The primary means for donors, such as Finland, to promote disability-inclusive humanitarian action are funding and advocacy. Trade-offs between flexible and earmarked funding for disability inclusion are challenging when reporting on results is inadequate. This article shares examples on how the Ministry promotes inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action and explores challenges that need to be resolved by stakeholders.

Keywords

Disability inclusionhumanitarian assistancegovernment donorsmultilateral organizationsflexible fundingreporting
Type
Research Article
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 105 , Issue 922: Persons with disabilities in armed conflict , April 2023 , pp. 416 - 433
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the ICRC.

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Footnotes

*

The authors would like to thank the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland staff for their valuable time and input in this article.

The advice, opinions and statements contained in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ICRC. The ICRC does not necessarily represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information provided in this article.

References

1 Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (MFA), Theories of Change and Aggregate Indicators for Finland's Development Policy 2020, 26 April 2021, available at: https://um.fi/documents/35732/0/theories-of-change-and-aggregate-indicators-for-finlands-development-policy-2020.pdf/7bc4d7f2-ffc8-5f4d-8382-43193fd887e8?t=1619609986346 (all internet references were accessed in October 2022).

2 Disability Partnership Finland is a non-profit development cooperation organization comprised of a network of eight Finnish OPDs. The organization aims to strengthen the capacity of local OPDs in the Global South to better advocate for rights of persons with disabilities in their contexts. See Vammaiskumppanuus, “Disability Partnership Finland – The World Belongs to Everyone”, available at: www.vammaiskumppanuus.fi/en/.

3 See, for example, Handicap International, Disability in Humanitarian Context: Views from Affected People and Field Organisations, 2015, available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/world/disability-humanitarian-context-views-affected-people-and-field-organisations.

4 Abilis Foundation, Vammaisten ihmisoikeudet Suomen ulkopolitiikassa, Helsinki, 2012, available at: https://um.fi/julkaisut-aiheittain/-/asset_publisher/pNPEiXNbcwol/content/julkaisu-vammaisten-ihmisoikeudet-suomen-ulkopolitiikassa/35732.

5 MFA, Finland as a Donor of Humanitarian Assistance, 2019, available at: https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/handle/10024/161936.

6 MFA, Finland's Humanitarian Policy, 2012, available at: https://um.fi/documents/35732/48132/finlands_humanitarian_policy.

7 Rose Worden and Patrick Saez, How Do Humanitarian Donors Make Decisions, and What Is the Scope for Change?, Center for Global Development, 28 October 2021, available at: www.cgdev.org/publication/how-do-humanitarian-donors-make-decisions-and-what-scope-change.

8 MFA, Evaluation of Finnish Development Policy Influencing Activities in Multilateral Organisations, Vol. 1: Main Report, 2020, available at: https://um.fi/documents/384998/0/Vol1+_MainReport_Evaluation+of+Finnish+Development+Policy+Influencing+Activities+in+Multilateral+Organisations+%281%29.pdf/2666cd6a-0bb2-1c76-0659-db1ac6fa30bf?t=1591860985653.

9 Ibid.

10 MFA, Catalysing Change: Evaluation of Finland's Humanitarian Assistance 2016–2022, Vol. 1: Main Report, 2022, pp. 20–32, available at: https://um.fi/development-cooperation-evaluation-reports-comprehensive-evaluations/-/asset_publisher/nBPgGHSLrA13/content/evaluointiraportti-muutosta-kaynnistamassa-suomen-humanitaarinen-apu-2016-2022-1/384998.

11 Ibid., pp. 33–6.

12 A. Obrecht, S. Swithern and J. Doherty, The State of the Humanitarian System, Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP), London, 7 September 2022, pp. 145–6, available at: https://sohs.alnap.org/help-library/2022-the-state-of-the-humanitarian-system-sohs-%E2%80%93-full-report-0.

13 UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UN Doc A/RES/61/106, 13 December 2006, available at: www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-persons-disabilities.

14 Ibid.

15 Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Right to Social Inclusion and Equality: National Action Plan on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2020–2023), 2021, available at: https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/handle/10024/163217.

16 MFA, Leaving No One Behind: The Finnish Approach to Addressing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Development Cooperation and Policy, 2018, available at: https://um.fi/publications/-/asset_publisher/TVOLgBmLyZvu/content/the-finnish-approach-to-addressing-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-in-the-development-cooperation-and-policy.

17 MFA, above note 8, p. 23.

18 Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, available at: https://humanitariandisabilitycharter.org/.

19 Ibid.

20 MFA, above note 5.

21 IASC, IASC Guidelines, Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, 2019, 19 November 2019, available at: https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/iasc-guidelines-on-inclusion-of-persons-with-disabilities-in-humanitarian-action-2019.

22 UN, Disability Inclusion Strategy, 2019, available at: www.un.org/en/content/disabilitystrategy/. For more information on the process, see, for example, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Strengthening the Inclusion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the United Nations – UNDIS”, available at: www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-disability/strengthening-inclusion-rights-persons-disabilities-united-nations-undis.

23 MFA, above note 8, p. 92.

24 WFP trust funds hold contributions whose purpose, scope and reporting requirements fall outside the WFP's regular operational programmes but that are consistent with its policies, aims and activities. The MFA earmarked funding towards the WFP's dedicated trust fund on disability inclusion for the purpose of kick-starting the WFP's work on disability inclusion.

25 Tasneem Mowjee and Andy Featherstone, Independent Review of the Four Priority Underfunded Areas for the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), 10 October 2020, p. 3, available at: https://cerf.un.org/sites/default/files/resources/CERF%20Priority%20Areas%20Review%20Final%20Report%20201010.pdf.

26 CERF, Q&A on the Emergency Relief Coordinator's Four Priority Areas for CERF, Advisory Group Meeting, 19–20 June 2019, available at: https://cerf.un.org/sites/default/files/resources/Q%26A%20on%20the%20ERCs%20Four%20Priority%20Areas%20for%20CERF_0.pdf.

27 T. Mowjee and A. Featherstone, above note 25.

28 Ibid.

29 Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD), Brief on the GHD Study: Everyone's Business – Use of Unearmarked Funding for Disability Inclusion in Humanitarian Action, June 2022, available at: www.ghdinitiative.org/assets/files/Brief-GHD-Study-on-use-of-unearmarked-funding-for-disability-inclusion-in-humanitarian-action.pdf.

30 Council of Delegates of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Adoption of the Strategic Framework on Disability Inclusion by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, 7 December 2015, available at: https://rcrcconference.org/app//uploads/2015/03/CoD15_Res-4-disability-inclusion-FINAL-EN.pdf.

31 International Committee of the Red Cross, The ICRC's Vision 2030 on Disability, 6 August 2020, available at: www.icrc.org/en/publication/4494-icrcs-vision-2030-disability.

32 UNHCR, Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2020–2023, 2019, internal document.

33 Disability Inclusion Strategy, above note 22.

34 UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ukraine: 2.7 Million People with Disabilities at Risk, UN Committee Warns, 14 April 2022, available at: www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/04/ukraine-27-million-people-disabilities-risk-un-committee-warns.

35 MFA, above note 8, p. 92.

36 IASC, About the Grand Bargain, available at: https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/about-the-grand-bargain.

37 For detailed definitions of multi-year and flexible funding, see IASC, Multi-Year and Flexible Funding – Definitions Guidance, 15 April 2020, available at: https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/grand-bargain-official-website/multi-year-and-flexible-funding-definitions-guidance.

38 Interagency Standing Committee Humanitarian Financing Task Team, Donor Conditions and their Implications for Humanitarian Response, April 2016, available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/world/donor-conditions-and-their-implications-humanitarian-response.

39 Piera Tortora and Suzanne Steensen, Making Earmarked Funding More Effective: Current Practices and a Way Forward, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Development Co-operation Directorate Report Number 1, 2014, available at: www.oecd.org/dac/aid-architecture/Multilateral%20Report%20N%201_2014.pdf.

40 Marte Nilsen, The Politics of Humanitarian Aid to Myanmar: Competing Strategies among Norwegian Aid Organizations, Peach Research Institute Oslo, 2019, available at: www.prio.org/publications/12330.

41 Victoria Metcalfe-Hough, Wendy Fenton, Barnaby Willitts-King and Alexandra Spencer, The Grand Bargain at Five Years: An Independent Review, ODI, London, 8 June 2021, available at: https://odi.org/en/publications/the-grand-bargain-at-five-years-an-independent-review.

42 Mona Christophersen, Ingunn Bjørkhaug and Åge A. Tiltnes, Tracking Disability Inclusion in Multilateral Organizations, Faforeport 2022:04, 21 February 2022, available at: www.fafo.no/zoo-publikasjoner/fafo-rapporter/tracking-disability-inclusion-in-multilateral-organizations.

43 P. Tortora and S. Steensen, above note 39.

44 The Washington Group on Disability Statistics website provides all of the validated questionnaires, in multiple languages, as well as information on the application of the questionnaires. See Washington Group on Disability Statistics, “Question Sets”, available at: www.washingtongroup-disability.com/question-sets/.

45 O'Reilly, Claire F., Caffrey, Louise and Jagoe, Caroline, “Disability Data Collection in a Complex Humanitarian Organisation: Lessons from a Realist Evaluation”, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol. 18, No. 19, 2021Google Scholar.

46 OECD-DAC, The OECD-DAC Policy Marker on the Inclusion and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities: Handbook for Data Reporters and Users, 10 December 2020, available at: https://one.oecd.org/document/DCD/DAC/STAT(2020)48/en/pdf.

47 Leonard Cheshire and Humanity & Inclusion, Disability Data Collection: A Summary Review of the Use of the Washington Group Questions by Development and Humanitarian Actors, October 2018, available at: www.humanity-inclusion.org.uk/sn_uploads/document/2018-10-summary-review-wgq-development-humanitarian-actors.pdf.

48 Ibid.

49 The Global Action on Disability Network is a coordination body of bilateral and multilateral donors, agencies, public and private foundations, as well as key coalitions of the disability movement with a common interest in achieving disability-inclusive international development and humanitarian action. For more information, see GLAD Network, “The Network”, available at: https://gladnetwork.net/network.