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Schools perform many functions outside of education. They provide a safe haven, a social arena, and, for families with children with special needs, they offer vital one-to-one support. Online learning, by comparison, is simply not up to the task. So what about their right to an education?

This guidance on Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) Considerations in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic is intended as a quick reference tool to support colleagues in the field who are working directly with populations of concern and/or engaged in protection advocacy. It has been developed in response to requests for further guidance on how the evolving COVID-19 pandemic may disproportionally impact specific AGD groups

This paper brings together guidance and messages from the ICRC’s Operations Diversity Inclusion, Sexual Violence and Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse teams, in collaboration with the Global Adviser on Children. Its purpose is to support the ICRC’s delegations and métiers in their response to COVID-19. The guidance focuses on the initial phases of the response, including contingency planning, adapting and possibly scaling back current activities and strengthening and establishing new activities and partnerships to respond to the virus in the humanitarian contexts in which it works

In view of the pandemic situation due to the outbreak and rapid spread of COVID19 across the world, the public health has been endangered both nationally and internationally, necessitating urgent measures on the part of both the Central and State Governments, aimed at containing the spread of the disease. The Government of India has declared the situation arising out of COVID 19 as a National Disaster and necessary guidelines have been issued under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005.

An easy to read guide to social distancing in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

The government of Paraguay has launched an accessible communication service to ensure that persons with disabilities can receive comprehensive information about COVID-19

This annotated bibliography provides an overview and outlines key messages from a selected range of academic and practioner literature looking at gender and disability in low- and middle-income countries, which may help with planning for gender inclusion in programmes and projects. The papers included here are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all the relevant literature. A focus is placed literature looking at the main areas of work of the Disability Inclusive Development programme: stigma, livelihoods (which also applies to the Inclusion Works programme), education, and health, as well as humanitarian contexts. Literature which focuses solely on one of these areas has been included in the relevant sections, and those which address multiple areas are included in the first, overarching section on gender and disability. As is often the case, the literature on gender and disability in low- and middle-income countries has a tendency to focus mainly on the experiences of women and girls with disabilities. There is a lack of evidence relating to gender and disability in low- and middle-income countries, although more evidence is emerging as awareness of the importance of the issue grows.

People with disabilities face exclusion and discrimination on the grounds of both their gender and their disability, as well as other intersecting factors such as age, race, class or poverty. The intersectional nature of discrimination and inequality impacts all areas of life, from access to services, personal security, livelihoods and leisure, through to individual choice and autonomy. Women and girls with disabilities are more likely to face discrimination and exclusion than people without disabilities and compared with men and boys with disabilities. Their participation in education, livelihoods, and healthcare is challenges by barriers including stigma and cultural practices resulting in discrimination and prejudice, lack of accessible services, and lack of support from family, teachers and institutions - all of which are exacerbated by poverty. Women with disabilities are also at greater risk of physical, mental and sexual abuse and because of stigmatisation, have lower marriage prospects. Therefore, it is important to ensure the meaningful inclusion of women and men with disabilities in programming.

In this blog, Rasak Adekoya (Programme Officer Inclusion Works, Sightsavers Nigeria) shares his career story, tells us about his role helping employers appreciate candidates and employees with disabilities, and what it’s like leading a film shoot as a blind person.

The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the UK government or members of the Inclusion Works consortium

This edition of the Disability inclusion helpdesk summarises the major announcements, events and reports published on 3rd December 2019, International Day of Persons with Disabilities.