Panel details

Panel organiser(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online
Number of paper presentations	12

Abstract

Ever since the launch of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, attention to the barriers faced by persons with disabilities in humanitarian crises has slowly grown. However, too often, persons with disabilities receive only scant attention from humanitarian organizations, even though they are disproportionately affected by humanitarian crises. They are also marginalized or excluded from other intersectional areas that have garnered attention in humanitarian action in recent years (e.g. gender and childhood). Overall, disability in humanitarian action is met by a dearth of theoretical and practical engagement, necessary in ensuring that no one is left behind and that ‘inclusive humanitarian action’ moves beyond mere rhetoric.

This panel will provide a space for active and critical discussion on the situation of persons with disabilities in humanitarian crises, and why disability not only matters, but cross-cuts all aspects of a humanitarian action that seeks to be inclusive and transformative. It will also provide an avenue for discussions on discourse, policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation of disability inclusive humanitarian action. The panel seeks to actively look at cases of disability inclusion and its challenges in different contexts, while bringing together evidence (beyond outputs to outcomes and impact) of disability inclusive humanitarian action and what this entails in theory and practice.

Paper presentations