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This tip sheet provides an overview of the factors that may put persons with disabilities at heightened risk in the COVID-19 pandemic and response in humanitarian settings; and proposes actions to address these risks within the COVID Camp Coordination & Management response. 

This tip sheet provides an overview of the factors that may put persons with disabilities at heightened risk in the COVID-19 pandemic and response in humanitarian settings; and recommends actions to address these risks within your COVID health response. This note draws on actionable and evidenced recommendations from the IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, health chapter applying these to the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO guidance for Disability inclusion in COVID-19 response, SODEN Statement on how COVID-19 is affecting persons with disabilities in Somalia and the practical field experience of HI and collaborating partners in Somalia.

A series of videos providing short reports from HI personnel on the potential impact of COVID-19 on people with disabilities living in already difficult situations.

[English subtitles]  

This guidance is part of a series to provide support during the Covid-19 crisis. The guidance notes include: #1- Inclusive Digital learning; #2 - Teacher resources; and #3 Home support.

To help teachers support their students during school closure, and to improve both wellbeing and learning outcomes for girls and boys affected by the COVID 19 crisis, a wide range of resources have been developed.

10 tips for teaching children with disabilities during COVID-19 are given with links to various resources.

The objective of the assessment is to understand the needs of people with disabilities and their families during the implementation of restrictions by the Government of Jordan in response to COVID‐19. The findings will provide insights for intervention planning at Humanity & Inclusion (HI) and evidence for advocacy effort with the local authority regarding support policies for vulnerable groups and movement permission for humanitarian aids.

HI conducted the assessment in April 2020 via phone survey with 942 households including 524 households having adults with disabilities and 418 households having children with disabilities. HI used purposive sampling to select the respondents from the currently active beneficiary dataset. Due to the large size of rehabilitation project, 93% of respondents were people with physical impairment. The results should be used as reference rather than representation for the needs of people with disabilities in Jordan.

The assessment findings are presented in two parts: Data at individual level and Data at household level.

Humanity & Inclusion’s teams are assessing its scope for action and plans to use its expertise in emergency situations, working with and for people with disabilities and older people, and its experience of past epidemic situations to protect the most vulnerable. HI has experience in major epidemics of ebola and cholera.

HI published a repository of resources on disability inclusion and COVID-19 as a member of the International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) and the CORE Group Disability Inclusive Health Technical Advisory Group

The importance of physchosocial support for people with spinal cord injuries and amputations as a result of the conflict in Syria and their families and carers is is briefly described through several case histories.

When emergencies strike, there is a huge surge in the need for Early Rehabilitation. Early Rehabilitation for patients with traumatic injuries in conflicts and disasters is now recognised as being an integral part of a patient’s recovery. However, the majority of rehabilitation professionals in countries that experience such emergencies do not have all the skills needed to treat all of the injuries. HI, in collaboration with leading organisations (ICRC, MSF-France, CBM, Livability & the WHO), has created this educational resource package to fill this gap

Each chapter of this handbook has been written by experts in their field. It includes pictures and evidence based treatment protocols to help rehabilitation professionals around the world to delivery high quality early rehabilitation intervention. Chapters included are:

• Key Challenges in Delivering Early Rehabilitation in Conflicts and Disasters
• Early Rehabilitation Patient Assessment and Treatment - the Basics
• Early Rehabilitation of Fractures 
• Early Rehabilitation of Peripheral Nerve Injuries
• Early Rehabilitation of Amputees
• Early Rehabilitation of Acquired Brain Injuries
• Early Rehabilitation of Spinal Cord Injuries
• Early Rehabilitation of Burns

Videos accompany each of the chapters. The handbook contents are directly linked to modules taught on disasterready.org where there are additional accompanying resources designed to be used in conflict and disasters settings

Following a short summary of factors limiting access to education for children with disabilities, Humanity & Inclusion (HI) work in inclusive education is briefly reported. HI's aims, main areas of activities (families and communities, making services inclusive (education, social, etc.) and developing policies) and ongoing projects are outlined. Examples of innovative practices and testimonies (from Mozambique, Gaza, Mali, Nepal and Sierra Leone) are given. The importance of inclusive education and HI's approach are discussed.

The unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on education systems worldwide and the HI #school4all campaign are also highlighted.