Addressing the disability data gap in humanitarian action
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This Humanitarian Practice Network Paper (Number 83) explores the challenge of improving the collection, analysis and use of disability data to support more inclusive, impartial and accountable humanitarian action. It considers both the obstacles in this area and the potential opportunities for improving practice going forward. The paper draws directly on the experience and outcomes of a recent UK Aid-funded multi-partner action research project led by Humanity & Inclusion which explored how the use of the internationally validated Washington Group Questions on Disability can support the collection of more reliable and comparable quantitative data on persons with disabilities in humanitarian settings.
Based on a broader desk review of practice-based reports and case studies, this paper also draws on a further range of methods and approaches that have been taken to collect, analyse and use data and information to support inclusion of people with disabilities across different stages of the humanitarian programming cycle, focusing particularly on instances where qualitative information is used in combination with quantitative data. The paper looks at the collection and use of data on the accessibility and inclusiveness of humanitarian programmes, as well as data on the number, needs and capacities of persons with disabilities