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While Fiji only had 18 cases of COVID-19, all of whom have recovered, the economic and social outcomes are significant and will be felt for years to come. The closure of international borders led to visitor arrivals contracting significantly by 43.5 percent up to April and the economy is projected to decline by 4.9% in 2020 under COVID-19. The impacts will extend to government revenue, which is expected to decrease by almost 50% in the next financial year.

In addition to the pandemic, Fiji was also struck by Severe Tropical Cyclone Harold on 08 April, causing States of Natural Disaster to be declared for COVID-19 and for TC Harold within the same week. Although Fiji is used to cyclones, prevention and movement restriction measures in place for COVID-19 made it difficult to respond to the trail of destruction left by the Category 4 cyclone. A total of 250 evacuation centers were opened in all four divisions and around 10,000 people were displaced.

The objectives of the Gender, Disability and Inclusion Analysis are:

- To analyse and understand the different impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic and TC Harold potentially have on women, men, girls and boys, people with disabilities and people of diverse SOGIESC and other marginalised groups in Fiji;

- To inform humanitarian programming in Fiji based on the different needs of women, men, boys and girls, people with disabilities and people of diverse SOGIESC with a particular focus on Gender Based Violence (GBV), Health, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Education in Emergencies, Food Security and Livelihoods, and Coping Strategies; and

- To provide recommendations for organisations responding to COVID-19 and TC Harold.

The Persons with Specific Needs (PSN) sub working group is a collective of over 20 organisations including UN agencies, NGOs, Disabled Peoples Organizations (DPOs), and Government (Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and Office of the Prime Minister) which regularly meets within the Uganda refugee coordination model to discuss issues relevant to refugees with specific needs, with a particular focus on persons with disabilities and older persons.

April 2020 the PSN SWG members started to collect evidence from a range of sources on the specific impact of the COVID-19 crisis and containment measures on PSNs within refugee communities in Uganda.

This report is based on the results of a global survey conducted in March and April 2020, targeted at the personal experiences of women, girls, non-binary, trans, and gender non-conforming persons with disabilities and COVID-19. This survey, which was intended to be primarily qualitative, asked respondents to provide narrative information about the following topics: access to health services, including sexual and reproductive health services; rationing of healthcare; personal safety and violence; access to support services to meet daily living needs; and access to education, employment, and other income. The results are based on 100 respondents. Recommendations are given.

On April 22nd 2020, the European Disability Forum organised the fourth of a series of webinars about the Innovation to Inclusion project (also called i2i programme). 

Four speakers were invited to talk about Labour Market Data for persons with disabilities. After their presentation, there was some time for questions and answers.

• Mark Carew (Leonard Cheshire) spoke briefly about i2i’s approach to disability data and how i2i supports a good quality collection of disability data.
• Valentina Stoevska (Department of Statistics, International Labour Organisation) explained the objectives of the statistical data on the labour market characteristics of persons with disabilities. She talked about the use of Washington Group questions on the disability Labour Force Surveys. To conclude her presentation, Ms Stoevska briefly illustrated with some statistics the employment characteristics of persons with disabilities.
• Robert Buluma (Governance, Peace and Security statistics of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics) briefly provided some information on the development of a disability monograph.
• Anderson Gitonga (United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK)) spoke about the importance of the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in data gathering and touched upon the technical working group that has been formed in Kenya.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its related socioeconomic consequences magnify obstacles and inequalities. Persons with disabilities are in many ways more exposed to the crisis. Social protection, which, at any point in time, is critical for persons with disabilities, has proven to be a crucial vector of relief in the recent weeks. This brief presents several elements that can help make the most of the social protection systems response to COVID-19 to support persons with disabilities.

Joint brief by ILO, UNICEF, UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, International Disability Alliance, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Purpose: This study’s purpose was to explore how people on sick leave manage societal norms and values related to work, and how these influence their perspectives of themselves throughout the rehabilitation process.

Materials and methods: This was a longitudinal interview study with a narrative approach, comprising 38 interviews with 11 individuals on long-term sick leave. Data collection was conducted in two phases and analysed iteratively through content analysis.

Results: The results suggest that work ethics and societal norms influence individuals’ views of themselves and the sick leave and rehabilitation process. Conforming one’s personal values to the work norm can create internal conflicts and cause feelings of shame for not being able to live up to the established norm. The strong work norm may create unrealistic expectations, which in some cases may result in constraining the return to work process.

Conclusion: To transform a sick leave narrative into a positive one, societal norms and their influence on identity needs to be recognised. Stakeholders involved in the process can contribute to a positive transformation by not only supporting return to work, but also to acknowledge and help people manage their self-image as having a disability that limits their ability to work.

Entering its fifth year, the conflict in Yemen, which has been marked by serious violations and crimes under international law, has had a disproportionate impact on persons with disabilities. Based on 96 interviews, this report documents how the war has affected the ability of 53 persons with disabilities,  31 of whom were displaced, to access and equally enjoy their human rights.  This report documents how persons with disabilities have endured unequal access to quality health services, education and employment opportunities as well as the challenges they face fleeing violence and living in displacement

Employment quotas represent one of the most frequently used policy measures to promote work opportunities for persons with disabilities. Slightly over 100 countries around the world currently provide for employment quotas in their national legislation. While some countries have had employment quotas for many decades, others have introduced them recently, revised them or are planning to introduce them. There is no standard approach.

The previous publication (Volume 1) summarizes published information on quota schemes, to highlight elements of existing systems that are effective in promoting employment opportunities and making recommendations for approaches to take in introducing new systems or revising existing systems. In this document (Volume 2), an overview is provided of quota schemes by country and the extent to which quota schemes are in place alongside anti-discrimination legislation.

Implementing a just transition to a low-carbon economy that aims to leave no one behind will require a context-specific and locally determined mix of legal standards, social protection, skills development and attitudinal transformation that create an enabling environment for green jobs to perpetuate and decent work opportunities for persons with disabilities to proliferate. If done right, a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all can contribute to the goals of achieving social justice, decent work, social inclusion and the eradication of poverty. At this unique time that climate action is accelerating and the transition to green economies has started to take form, a just transition - that is inherently disability-inclusive - represents a unique opportunity to shape a future that works for all.

Topics discussed include: Persons with disabilities in a world of work confronted by climate change; Understanding the future of the world of work; Existing frameworks to guide action; An inclusive transition to a low-carbon economy; Key recommendations