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"This publication summarizes the current gaps, needs and opportunities for intervention in the field of assistive technology in Tajikistan. The situational analysis was conducted under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, Republic of Tajikistan and with technical support from the WHO Country Office, Tajikistan. It was undertaken in collaboration with different Government ministries and State agencies, development partners, United Nations agencies, nongovernmental organizations, disabled people’s organizations and users of assistive products. It adopted a realist synthesis approach, responsive to the unique social, cultural, economic and political circumstances in the country. The evaluation focuses on assistive technology policy and governance, service provision and the impact of assistive technology on the health and well-being of individual users and their families, with the aim of improving access to high-quality, affordable assistive products in Tajikistan.

200 persons with disabilities participated in a survey designed to collect information on self-reported need for assistive products, user experiences and barriers to access. An additional 11 focus groups made up of persons with disabilities and older adults held indepth discussions on assistive technology. The major providers of assistive technology (Government facilities, nongovernmental organizations, local producers) were also interviewed as part of the research"

The Field Manual has been created to provide technical guidance for those with medical training.  It enables the user to adapt their knowledge to the treatment of severely injured children.  It has paediatric-specific sections on:

• Pre-hospital care and transport
• Damage control resuscitation, surgery and intensive care
• Surgery (thoraco-abdominal, limb, burns)
• Neurological injury
• Ward care
• Rehabilitation
• Psychosocial support
• Ethics and safeguarding

The Manual is also intended for use by anyone who is required to plan for the treatment of severely injured children, so they can see the resources, training and equipment that is required in a medical facility likely to receive blast injured children.

This report makes the case that integrated people-centred eye care is the care model of choice and can help meet the challenges faced. Chapter 1 highlights the critical importance of vision; describes eye conditions that can cause vision impairment and those that typically do not; reviews the main risk factors for eye conditions; defines vision impairment and disability; and explores the impact of vision impairment. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the global magnitude of eye conditions and vision impairment and their distribution. Chapter 3 presents effective promotive preventive, treatment, and rehabilitative strategies to address eye care needs across the life course. Chapter 4 starts by taking stock of global advocacy efforts to date, the progress made in addressing specific eye conditions and vision impairment, and recent scientific and technological advances; it then identifies the remaining challenges facing the field. Chapter 5 describes how making eye care an integral part of universal health care (including developing a package of eye care interventions) can help address some of the challenges faced by countries. Chapter 6 presents IPEC and explains the need for engaging and empowering people and communities, reorienting the model of care based on a strong primary care and the need for coordinating services within and across sectors; and creating an enabling environment. The report ends with five recommendations for action that can be implemented by all countries to improve eye care. 

This report represents the first UN systemwide effort to examine disability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the global level. The report reviews data, policies and programmes and identifies good practices; and uses the evidence it reviewed to outline recommended actions to promote the realization of the SDGs for persons with disabilities. Over 200 experts from UN agencies and International Financial Institutions, Member States and civil society, including research institutions and organizations of persons with disabilities, contributed to this report. The report covers new areas for which no global research was previously available, for example, the role of access to energy to enable persons with disabilities to use assistive technology. It also contains the first global compilation and analysis of internationally comparable data using the Washington Group on Disability Statistics short set of questions. Reviews of legislation from 193 UN Member States were conducted and analysed for this report to highlight good practices and to assess the current status of discriminatory laws on voting, election for office, right to marry and others

This article looks at literature focussing on the benefits and costs of disability inclusion for a wide range of stakeholders. Included are the perspectives of persons with a disability, households, employers, education and health service providers and governments. 

This guidebook was produced to build the capacity of Communities of Practice members on inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). IIRR and Give2Asia hope that this guidebook will help CBOs in Asia make their disaster preparedness programs more inclusive and sensitive to the needs of vulnerable groups in communities.

There are 3 parts: 

Part 1: Principles and practice of inclusion in DRRM and disaster preparedness 

Part 2: Dimensions of Inclusive Disaster Preparedness

Part 3: Practical tools and strategies in inclusive disaster preparedness - including: Hazard vulnerability and capacity assessment; Early warning system and Emergency preparedness

This guidebook aims to:

1. Enable partner CBOs to delve into strategic planning, approaches and tools on Inclusive DRR;

2. Provide alternative learning avenues for sectors to shift paradigm: from looking at excluded groups as “the recipient, or an object” into a more equitable gender-fair and humane categorization, such as intervenors or pro-actors;

3. Provide samples of standard platforms and protocols on inclusive disaster risk assessment, structural framework, gender-mainstreaming and paralegal support systems

4. Develop a community of learning (COL) in sharing inclusion on rights, advocacy, livelihoods, and entitlements

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Minimum standards for protection, gender and inclusion in emergencies (2018) is in its second edition. The first pilot version of the IFRC Minimum standard commitments to gender and diversity in emergency programming was published in 2015. The pilot version has been tested globally by Red Cross and Red Crescent staff, volunteers and management in low-, medium- and high-scale disasters and humanitarian crises. This edition is the result of three years of testing, revision and feedback from protection, gender and inclusion (PGI) and sectoral specialists. New chapters, such as cash-based interventions, have been added as well as a stronger focus on sexual and gender-based violence and disability inclusion to align with the commitments of the IFRC and its member National Societies. This edition is accompanied by the IFRC Protection, gender and inclusion in emergencies toolkit (2018–2019).

This guidance presents Red Cross and Red Crescent staff, members and volunteers with a set of minimum standards for protection, gender and inclusion (PGI) in emergencies. It aims to ensure that the emergency programming of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and National Societies provides dignity, access, participation and safety for all people affected by disasters and crises.

It provides practical guidance on how to mainstream these four principles in all sectors, based on a consideration of gender, age, disability and other diversity factors. This includes limiting people’s exposure to the risks of violence and abuse and ensuring that emergency programmes “do no harm”.

The standards address protection, gender and inclusion concerns by providing practical ways to engage with all members of the community, respond to their differing needs and draw on their capacities in the most non-discriminatory and effective way. This helps to ensure that local perspectives guide assistance delivery. The standards also support incorporation of the seven Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

During armed conflict, children with disabilities are caught in a vicious cycle of violence, social polarization, deteriorating services and deepening poverty. Global estimates suggest there are between 93 million and 150 million children with disabilities under the age of 15.Given that disability is often not reported due to stigma there is reason to believe actual prevalence could be much higher. Although efforts to ensure the fulfilment of their rights have improved, girls and boys with disabilities continue to remain among the most marginalized and excluded segment of the population. This is amplified during situations of armed conflict. The barriers to full participation they face on a day-to-day basis are intensified and compounded when infrastructure is destroyed, and services and systems are compromised and made inaccessible. This results in the further exclusion and marginalization of children with disabilities, and prevents them from accessing schooling, health and psychosocial support, or a means of escape from conflict.

When systems and services break down, children are also left more susceptible to violence. Injuries sustained by many children during armed conflict may also lead to long-term impairments. There are six grave violations of children’s rights and protection in armed conflict that are on the agenda of the United Nations (UN) Security Council; killing and maiming, recruitment and use of children, rape or other sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools or hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access. Governments around the world have committed themselves to respect, promote, and fulfil the rights of children with disabilities, including in situations of armed conflict, and progress is being made. Efforts by a broad range of actors to implement the CRPD, CRC and other human rights instruments include the development of standards to address the rights and needs of persons with disabilities in humanitarian crises, and guidance on making humanitarian response, development and peacebuilding more inclusive. Efforts to improve the collection and use of data concerning children and adults with disabilities are also underway. Yet, as this discussion paper makes clear, much more needs to be done. Investments in disability-inclusive humanitarian action and recovery from crises will pay off, contributing towards a dividend of peace built on greater equality, tolerance and justice. 

The objective of this case study was to review how Cambodia, as an affected state, and Australia as a donor, promote the provision of victim assistance in sectors including health, rehabilitation, disability, socio-economic development and poverty reduction. It documents promising practices and proposes next steps to ensure the sustainability of victim assistance provision in the near and long-term future. This study aims to inspire the mine action community in both affected and donor states to increase its contribution to victim assistance. This case study focuses on both prongs of the integrated approach to victim assistance by describing: i) Broader multi-sector efforts that reach casualties, survivors and indirect victims; and ii) Specific victim assistance efforts to improve victims’ quality of life deployed by mine action stakeholders, other actors in charge of coordinating victim assistance in Cambodia, and Australia as a donor state. An analysis of these specific efforts revealed that they fall into one of two of the following categories: a) Bridging gaps in data collection and service provision, or b) Advocating for, and facilitating, a multisector response.

Humanity & Inclusion (HI) and the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) conducted the study in November 2017 in seven provinces. The methodology comprised three steps: a desk review of project documents, national plans and policies from a range of sectors with a focus on programmes funded by Australia; interviews with key personnel from the mine action and the disability sectors; and a field survey comprising 31 individual indepth interviews with 19 survivors and 12 other persons with disabilities (23 male and 8 female), 12 focus group discussions as well as field visits to observe the initiatives described in this publication.