Strengthening disability inclusion through collaboration
WHO / NOOR / Arko Datto
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Strengthening disability inclusion through collaboration

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Member States pledged to leave no one behind, including people with disability. WHO works together in partnership with other United Nations agencies, organizations of persons with disabilities and broader civil society to help Member States attain their national goals and  embrace disability in all sectors.

Through different collaborative projects, WHO works towards:

  • Strengthening disability inclusion in humanitarian actions
  • Developing tools to promote the rights, participation, and inclusion of people with disability in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, in line with the  Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
  • Mainstreaming disability in international cooperation to develop, implement and monitor disability-inclusive sector policies and services in a participatory manner and in line with the CRPD
  • Strengthening disability inclusion in COVID-19 response and recovery.

COVID-19 related work

UN COVID-19 Working Group

Following the publication of the UN Secretary-General's Policy Brief: A Disability-Inclusive COVID-19 Response in May 2020, the UN Under-Secretary-General Ana Maria Menéndez convened an emergency time-bound Working Group on the COVID-19 response.

The Working Group aims to identify specific priorities and entry points and to strengthen disability inclusion in the mainstream UN COVID-19 response and recovery. It has established four workstreams which are undertaking concrete actions to support greater inclusion of persons with disabilities across the following areas:

1. Funding, including mainstream COVID-19 funding mechanisms

2. Health response and recovery

3. Socioeconomic response and recovery

4. Humanitarian response and recovery.

WHO  leads the workstream on health response and recovery with the participation of other agencies and organizations such as the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights, International Telecommunication Union, the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Disability and Accessibility, UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, Humanity and Inclusion, International Disability and Development Consortium, and International Disability Alliance.

One of the outcomes of the workstream will be the first WHO-ITU Standard for accessibility of telehealth and e-health applications which is expected to be published in 2021.


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UNPRPD Global Programme Supporting Disability Inclusive COVID-19 Response and Recovery at National Level

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Building a strong disability inclusive COVID-19 response and recovery at the national level

The United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities global programme is supporting disability inclusive COVID-19 response and recovery operating at the national level. This global joint programme, entitled “Building Back Better for All”,  leverages the experience of 9 UN agencies, including WHO, organizations of persons with disabilities and broader civil society to support countries and other global initiatives towards this work. The programme currently works closely with 20–30 country teams and will expand its outreach to other countries through the generation of guidance and practical tools.

 

Inter-agency Standing Committee (IASC)

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19 November 2019

Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action

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The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) is the longest-standing and highest-level humanitarian coordination forum of the UN. The committee brings together heads of the UN and non-UN organizations to ensure unified response efforts, to prepare policy, and decide on priorities for humanitarian action.

The responsibilities of the IASC include: making strategic and policy decisions with system-wide implications; endorsing major operational decisions; arbitration where no consensus can be reached by other IASC structures; advocating common principles, collectively or individually on behalf of the IASC; approving the work plans of the IASC structures; bringing issues to the attention of the Secretary-General and Security Council through the Emergency Relief Coordinator, and, designating Humanitarian Coordinators and selecting coordination arrangements.

The work of this group, with the active participation of WHO, led to the publication of the first-ever Guidelines of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action in 2019.

Currently, a Reference Group has been created to support the implementation of the Guidelines and other humanitarian work. WHO is co-chairing a workstream on roll-out and the implementation of the guidelines.

Bridging the Gap

Bridging the Gap is a project funded by the European Union (EU). The project carries out actions aimed at increasing the inclusion of people with disability at both the international and country level.

The project is a targeted response to make development cooperation inclusive of people with disability, which is an obligation for the EU and Member States as parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and which can have a significant impact in improving the social inclusion and promoting the rights of people with disability. The initiative consists of two mutually reinforcing parts:

  1. Working at the global level to develop tools to promote the rights, participation, and inclusion of persons with disabilities in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, in line with the CRPD.
  2. Mainstreaming disability in international cooperation to develop, implement and monitor disability–inclusive sector policies and services in a participatory manner and in line with the CRPD.

WHO collaborates with both the EU and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Bridging the Gap to develop human rights indicators for the implementation of the CRPD in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.