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SOUTH SUDAN. Protection Analysis Update. Protection risks facing persons with disabilities and older persons

GLOBAL PROTECTION CLUSTER, UNHCR
October 2023

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This South Sudan Protection Analysis Update places a thematic focus on protection risks facing persons with disabilities and older persons.

The most recent census reported that 5% of the population in South Sudan, or approximately 424,000 people, were living with a disability. However, the current number is likely to be much higher, possibly reaching 1.2 million people, or 16% of the population, according to the global estimate. Data in South Sudan also suggests a rapid increase in the number of older persons each year, mounting to 5.1% of total population with this percentage expected to continue to steadily increase.

People with disabilities and older people in South Sudan are often excluded and face multiple challenges in accessing essential services and protection. Decades of civil war have increased the number of older people and persons with disabilities who are being left behind as they are unable to flee due to chronic health conditions and mobility impairments. People who have managed to flee the violence are often faced with barriers accessing protection and health services. Therefore, older people with and without disabilities in South Sudan face higher risks and greater challenges in getting the necessary humanitarian assistance.

Unimproved water sources and open defecation are associated with active trachoma in children in internally displaced persons camps in the Darfur States of Sudan

MACLEOD, C K
October 2019

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To estimate the proportion of children with trachomatous inflammation—follicular (TF) and adults with trachomatous trichiasis (TT) in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in the Darfur States of Sudan and to evaluate associated risk factors. 

A random-effects hierarchical model was used to evaluate factors associated with TF and TT. Thirty-six IDP camps were represented in the survey data in which 1926 children aged 1–9 years were examined, of whom 38 (8%) had TF. Poor sanitation, younger age and living in a household that purchased water from a vendor were associated with TF in children aged 1–9 years.

 

Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2019 Oct 11;113(10):599-609

DOI:10.1093/trstmh/trz042

Cameroon: People With Disabilities Caught in Crisis - Funds Needed to Scale Up Humanitarian Response

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
August 2019

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Over the past three years, Cameroon’s Anglophone regions have been embroiled in a cycle of violence that has claimed an estimated 2,000 lives and uprooted almost half a million people from their homes. People with disabilities caught in the violence struggle to flee to safety when their communities come under attack. They also face difficulties in getting necessary assistance.

Between January and May 2019, Human Rights Watch interviewed 48 people with disabilities living in the Anglophone regions, their family members, representatives of UN agencies, and national and international humanitarian organizations to investigate how the crisis in the North-West and South-West regions has disproportionately affected people with disabilities. Some of their stories are presented.

 

The intersection of disability and food security: Perspectives of health and humanitarian aid workers

QUARMBY, Candice A.
PILLAY, Mershen
2018

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Background: Most people with disabilities the world over can be found in the Majority (or ‘economically developing’) World. This is also where most of the world’s hungry and malnourished are found. We argue that the intersectionality between disability and nutrition may best be understood through a food security framework, and we position all people living with disability, including those experiencing feeding and swallowing disabilities, as at risk for food insecurity, especially those living in humanitarian emergency contexts.

 

Objectives: This study aimed to explore and describe the knowledge and experience of humanitarian aid workers (HAWs) and health care professionals (HCPs) in food assistance contexts with regard to the nutrition and food security of people living with disabilities.

 

Method: In this exploratory, descriptive study, 16 participants with experience in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia participated in an online survey. Three survey participants with extensive experience were also interviewed. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis.

 

Results: Results revealed that participants had generally low levels of exposure to and experience with disability, including swallowing and feeding disorders.

 

Conclusions: Reduced knowledge of HAWs and HCPs regarding disability and the lack of professionals such as speech–language therapists, who manage disability-specific issues such as feeding and swallowing disorders, may affect the food security of people living with disabilities in food assistance contexts.

Central African Republic: People with disabilities at high risk - 4 years into conflict, more support, protection needed

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
June 2017

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People with disabilities in the Central African Republic have faced violent attacks, forced displacement, and ongoing neglect in the humanitarian response, Human Rights Watch said today. A peace accord signed on June 19, 2017, offers a chance to help this abused and marginalized group.

People with disabilities face high risk from violent attacks and forced displacement and are being neglected by aid groups as conflict in the Central African Republic intensifies.

New Human Rights Watch research in the country shows that people with a range of disabilities are often unable to flee violence, are especially vulnerable to attack while trying to flee, and face unsafe and unhealthy conditions in displacement camps.

This video and blog page report on the problems faced by people with disabilities as conflict in the Central African Republic intensifies. People with a range of disabilities are often unable to flee violence, are especially vulnerable to attack while trying to flee, and face unsafe and unhealthy conditions in displacement camps.

South Sudan: People with disabilities, older people face danger

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
May 2017

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It is reported that people with disabilities and older people in South Sudan face greater risks of being caught in fighting and greater challenges in getting necessary humanitarian assistance. In February and March 2017, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 45 people with disabilities and older people in displacement sites in Juba and Malakal, as well as in Panyijar county in the former Unity state, where the UN declared famine in two counties in February. Human Rights Watch also met with aid organizations and the South Sudan Human Rights Commission. The challenges faced by people with disabilities are reported.

Childhood disability in Turkana, Kenya: Understanding how carers cope in a complex humanitarian setting

ZUURMOND, Maria
NYAPERA, Velma
MWENDA, Victoria
KISIA, James
RONO, Hilary
PALMER, Jennifer
2016

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Background: Although the consequences of disability are magnified in humanitarian contexts, research into the difficulties of caring for children with a disability in such settings has received limited attention.


Methods: Based on in-depth interviews with 31 families, key informants and focus group discussions in Turkana, Kenya, this article explores the lives of families caring for children with a range of impairments (hearing, vision, physical and intellectual) in a complex humanitarian context characterised by drought, flooding, armed conflict, poverty and historical marginalisation.


Results: The challenging environmental and social conditions of Turkana magnified not only the impact of impairment on children, but also the burden of caregiving. The remoteness of Turkana, along with the paucity and fragmentation of health, rehabilitation and social services, posed major challenges and created opportunity costs for families. Disability-related stigma isolated mothers of children with disabilities, especially, increasing their burden of care and further limiting their access to services and humanitarian programmes. In a context where social systems are already stressed, the combination of these factors compounded the vulnerabilities faced by children with disabilities and their families.


Conclusion: The needs of children with disabilities and their carers in Turkana are not being met by either community social support systems or humanitarian aid programmes. There is an urgent need to mainstream disability into Turkana services and programmes.

Disability and armed conflict: A quest for Africanising disability in Uganda

BUSINGE, Patrick
2016

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There are three key revelations from literature on disability and armed conflict in the Global South. First, though disability is a relative term, models from the Global North are widely used irrespective of indigenous knowledges and contexts. Second, though disability is caused by colonial and post-colonial inequalities such as poverty, disabled people are often forgotten in poverty reduction programmes. Third, while many countries experience armed conflict, little is known about its effects on disabled people living in contexts of armed conflict. This realisation led to the aims of this study which were to: i) investigate how disability is understood in the armed conflict setting of Uganda; ii) to understand the experiences of disabled people in armed conflict settings; and iii) examine ways of improving the experience of disabled people in the Global South. Using a critical, constructivist and grounded research methodology, the study revealed the nature of ‘African disabilities’ and the challenges faced by disabled people living in conflict settings: displacement, dehumanisation, rampant poverty and neo-colonialism. Disabled people experience rejection in their communities and invisibility in the provision of services. Using literature as a dialogue partner, this study concludes that the ways in which disabled people are treated runs counter to many African beliefs on what it means to be human and live in a community. Consequently, it proposes a theory which contains critical knowledge on how the Africanisation of disability could be thought of and brought about in conflict settings.

 

Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2016, Vol. 3 No. 1

Equal basis 2014 : access and rights in 33 countries

BURKE, Megan
PERSI VICENTIC, Loren
December 2014

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This report presents research about efforts to meet the needs and uphold the rights of persons with disabilities in four thematic areas: health care, rehabilitation, work and employment, and accessibility and enabling environments. Research findings are drawn from the experiences of landmine and cluster munition survivors and other persons with similar needs in 33 countries experiencing armed conflict or emerging from armed conflict or political or economic transition. Findings are placed within the context of relevant articles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the World Report on Disability

Disability inclusion : translating policy into practice in humanitarian action

PEARCE, Emma
March 2014

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This report “documents positive practices and ongoing challenges to promote disability inclusion across UNHCR’s and its partners’ work in multiple countries and multiple displacement contexts. The report provides lessons and recommendations for other organizations and the wider humanitarian community on engaging persons with disabilities at all levels of humanitarian work. It draws on consultations with over 700 displaced persons, including persons with disabilities, their families, and humanitarian staff, in eight countries”

Note: This report is also offered in plain text format

Fact sheet : refugees with disabilities

WOMEN’S REFUGEE COMMISSION
2014

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This factsheet highlights the issue of disabilities among refugees and conflict-affected population. It emphasizes actions undertaken by the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) and highlights their next steps in disability inclusion

Note: Also available in easy read format

Disability associated with exposure to traumatic events: results from a cross-sectional community survey in South Sudan

AYAZI, Touraj
LIEN, Lars
EIDE, Arne Henning
JENKINS, Rachel
ALBINO, Rita Amok
HAUFF , Edvard
May 2013

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"There is a general lack of knowledge regarding disability and especially factors that are associated with disability in low-income countries. We aimed to study the overall and gender-specific prevalence of disability, and the association between exposure to traumatic events and disability in a post-conflict setting. We conducted a cross-sectional community based study of four Greater Bahr el Ghazal States, South Sudan (n = 1200). The Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) was applied to investigate exposure to trauma events. Disability was measured using the Washington Group Short Measurement Set on Disability, which is an activity based scale derived from the WHO’s International Classification of Disability, Functioning and Health. The estimated prevalence of disability (with severe difficulty) was 3.6% and 13.4% for disability with moderate difficulties. No gender differences were found in disability prevalence. Almost all participants reported exposure to at least one war-related traumatic event. The result of a hierarchical regression analysis showed that, for both men and women, exposure to traumatic events, older age and living in a polygamous marriage increased the likelihood of having a disability. The finding of association between traumatic experience and disability underlines the precariousness of the human rights situation for individuals with disability in low-income countries. It also has possible implications for the construction of disability services and for the provision of health services to individuals exposed to traumatic events"

 

BMC Public Health, 13:469

Armed violence and disability : the untold story

THAPA, Rashmi
THALER, Kai
2012

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"This study aims to understand the links between armed violence and impairments that can lead to disabilities. It focuses on individuals who sustain impairments resulting from incidents of armed violence. The Disability Creation Process is adapted to analyse the combination of health problems, discrimination and socio- economic exclusion that can lead to disability for people who have sustained serious injury and/or lasting impairments as a result of armed violence...This report is written in a linear progression keeping the research project’s goals, objectives and approach as its backdrop. Chapter 1 (introduction) gives an overview of armed violence along with the justification of this research and its methods. Chapter 2 presents the findings from the four case study regions in countries, situated within its contextual analysis. Each case study draws on its discussion and summary of findings. Chapter 3 presents the discussion and lessons learned from this research, placing assistance and people at the centre of armed violence initiatives. Finally, a glossary, Annexes and references as endnotes are at the end of the report with notes at the end of every page"

Paying stories of impairment - parasitic or ethical?|Reflections undertaking anthropological research in post-conflict Sierra Leone

BERGHS, Maria
December 2011

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This article presents ethnographic research in Sierra Leone with people with disabilities. The author explores challenges faced with the research and the importance of engaging in more reciprocal and collaborative communal research using a social model of disability framework to try and access discourses
Journal of Disability Research, Vol 3, No 4

Ethnographic study of community-based child protection mechanisms and their linkage with the national child protection system of Sierra Leone

THE COLUMBIA GROUP FOR CHILDREN IN ADVERSITY
July 2011

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"Community-based child protection mechanisms (CBCPMs) are used widely by non-governmental organisations and communities to address and protect children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. The research in this study reviews the effectiveness and sustainability of CBCPMs and aims to strengthen the link between CBCPMs and the national child protection system"

Helping the most vulnerable in Dadaab

BEALS, Greg
2011

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This article presents the difficulties disabled persons face when attempting to flee during conflict based upon individual stories of Somali displaced persons in Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya. The article highlights their difficulties and the assistance that is being provided by UNHCR

"As if we weren’t human" : discrimination and violence against women with disabilities in northern Uganda

BARRIGA, Shantha Rau KWON, Soo-Ryun
August 2010

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After 20 years of displacement and war in northern Uganda, this research report presents information about the situation of women who acquired their disabilities due to the war or who already had disabilities before the war. The report presents interviews from women with disabilities, their family members, international agencies and NGOs, and analyses their responses given the context that Uganda is a signatory to international treaties, such as the CRPD. The report concludes by making recommendations to the government of Uganda

Vulnerability and disability in Darfur

KETT, Maria
TRANI, Jean-François
2010

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This article presents the increased difficulties persons with disabilities face throughout the displacement process as highlighted in focus group discussions in IDP camps in western Darfur. It also features information about disability in international standards and guidelines, as well as future challenges
Forced Migration Review, Issue 35

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