RI Global: Office of Communications
Contact: Adrian Brune, +1 347-759-9501
As the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP) to the CRPD wound down at the UN, RI Global stepped up its action with an eye to keeping Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) on the agenda of several international treaties, including the inclusion of PwDs in humanitarian action.
At a briefing session this morning, RI Global Secretary-General Venus Ilagan endorsed the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action developed by Handicap International, CBM, the International Disability Alliance, Human Rights Watch and the Women’s Refugee Commission, calling for the process of implementation over the following year to remain accessible and inclusive. She offered RI Global’s 90-year expertise in supporting other organisations and UN agencies through similar initiatives, including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in achieving this goal.
“Millions of people with disabilities are affected by emergencies, living each day that comes in dire situations, and expecting that their voices are heard,” said Ilagan, at the side event Outcomes of the World Humanitarian Summit for persons with disabilities and next steps. “We have a duty and responsibility, as international community, to ensure their voice resonates loudly.”
The Charter — introduced at the the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul in May — puts forward five core principles to support humanitarian actors’ practices to be more inclusive of PwDs, including the fostering participation of persons with disabilities, development of inclusive policies and guidelines, and promotion of an inclusive response and services.
Despite the progression of awareness and understanding of inclusion of PwDs in humanitarian action, until now, there have been neither universally endorsed principles, nor standards or guidelines to ensure that humanitarian action includes PwDs”. The Charter also paves the way to the development of a set of standards and guidelines that enables the practical implementation of Article 11 of the CRPD mandating that PwDs are included in situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies.
“We aim to contribute to the development of the Guidelines and to collaborate with other stakeholders, in order to facilitate the successful implementation of the Charter, as humanitarian crises continue to rise, especially in low and middle income countries,” Ilagan said. “In our successful experience in realizing inclusion in the process leading to the CRPD and the Sendai Framework, we supported resiliency and agency in identifying solutions.
“Today, let’s work together, so that tomorrow a brighter day could rise.”
The event, which also briefed participants on the outcome for PwDs and steps towards inclusive humanitarian action overall during the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, featured a panel of speakers, incluindg Colin Allen of the International Disability Alliance, Gopal Mitra, a program specialist on Children with Disabilities at UNICEF and Camille Gosselin, the Humanitarian Advocacy Manager, Handicap International.
RI Global: Founded in 1922, Rehabilitation International (RI Global) is a worldwide network promoting the rights and inclusions of persons with disabilities (PwDs) through advocacy, habilitation and rehabilitation to achieve an inclusive world in which all people can enjoy full human rights.
Join us at the 2016 RI Global World Congress: riworldcongress.com
