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The Global Protection Cluster (GPC) and its field operations are working closely with partners and governments to ensure the inclusion of those in need of protection as a result of conflict, disasters and climate change in national and local COVID-19 preparedness, prevention and response activities. This page shares protection-related information and resources on COVID-19, including examples of operational tools produced by field clusters.

Humanity & Inclusion has created a learning toolkit to improve the collection of quality data on persons with disabilities and improve its use by humanitarian organisations.

Until now, existing guidance on the Washington Group Questions (WGQs) has been specific to national data collection efforts on persons with disabilities. To address the lack of guidance for humanitarian actors, Humanity & Inclusion (HI) is launching a learning toolkit on collecting data in humanitarian action, which includes an e-learning, a training pack for enumerators and various supporting resources that can all be found on the HI website.

Gathering evidence on the use of the WGQs in humanitarian action:

To respond to the need to collect, analyse and use data on persons with disabilities in humanitarian action, HI has been implementing a project, funded by the UK Department for International Development, to test and assess the use of the WGQs in humanitarian action. An action-research was carried out with over 30 humanitarian partners in Jordan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Philippines, with the evidence used to develop learning materials.

Development of a learning toolkit for humanitarian actors:

In addition to the findings of the action-research, HI gathered inputs from over 30 humanitarian organisations working in 22 countries to inform the design of the learning toolkit. Specific focus was given to the development of open source materials that would be accessible with screen readers, on mobile phones, and in hard to reach locations. The content was then informed by selected subject matter experts in inclusive humanitarian action and data collection.

What is included in the toolkit?

An e-learning on Collecting Data for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action – The Application of the WGQs providing an entry point for humanitarian actors who would like to understand how to plan for and use the WGQs.

A Training Pack for enumerators giving guidance, session plans and activities to deliver training on using the WGQs (developed in collaboration with RedR UK).

Supporting resources providing practical guidance on the application of the WGQs in humanitarian contexts.

Who is this for?

The toolkit is tailored to a full range of humanitarian actors who would like to understand how to use the WGQs in their own work and organisations. The content has also been designed to provide technical guidance for programme and technical staff: with a practical focus on different topics relevant for the use of the WGQs –from the human rights based approach that underpins them, to their planning, use and the analysis of the data produced.

Where is the Toolkit available?

The e-learning is available now on disasterready.com and on Kayaconnect.org (accessible for mobile phones and tablets). Organisations interested in hosting the e-learning are welcome to contact the project team members. Toolkit resources and more information about the project are available for download in the project webpage.

The Public Health Situation Analysis (PHSA) aims to provide all health sector partners, including local and national authorities, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), donor agencies and United Nations agencies with a common and comprehensive understanding of the public health situation in a crisis in order to inform evidence based collective humanitarian health response planning. The PHSA may also be used to feed other sectoral and intersectoral products, such as providing the health input to the Humanitarian Needs Overview, and is also used in support of the WHO (re-)grading process.

The PHSA updates and replaces the previous Public Health Risk Assessment (PHRA) prepared by WHO. There are two versions of the PHSA: a short-form or “initial” PHSA, and a long-form or “full” PHSA. This SOP covers both.

"In recognizing the need for a set of questions that would produce internationally comparable data on children, the Washington Group formed a subgroup in 2009 that is chaired by the National Statistical Office of Italy (ISTAT). UNICEF joined the subgroup in 2011.

The first main activity of the subgroup was the development of a short set of questions to reflect current thinking on child functioning for inclusion in censuses and surveys. The new module uses the ICF-CY as the conceptual framework and relies on a functional approach to measuring disability.

The Washington Group/UNICEF Module on Child Functioning, finalized in 2016, covers children between 2 and 17 years of age and assesses functional difficulties in different domains including hearing, vision, communication/comprehension, learning, mobility and emotions. To better reflect the degree of functional difficulty, each area is assessed against a rating scale. The purpose is to identify the subpopulation of children who are at greater risk than other children of the same age or who are experiencing limited participation in an unaccommodating environment. The set of questions is intended for use in national household surveys and censuses"

The module is being translated into multiple languages. Supporting documentation, including a concept note, tabulation plan, templates for reporting, guidelines for interviewers and training materials are also available.

"Strengthening the Role of Women with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action: A Facilitator’s Guide" was designed by the Women’s Refugee Commission, in collaboration with organizations of women with disabilities in Africa and South Asia. It is a tool to support women leaders to provide training to members, colleagues and/or partners on humanitarian action. The training is intended to enhance the capacity of women with disabilities to effectively advocate on women’s and disability issues within relevant humanitarian forums at national and regional levels by:
- increasing understanding of the humanitarian system;
- helping participants identify gaps and opportunities for inclusion of women and girls with disabilities within the humanitarian system; and,
- developing advocacy plans to strengthen access and inclusion.

The Women’s Refugee Commission is deeply grateful to the women with disabilities who provided input and feedback after participating in the pilot training, as well as the Network of African Women with Disabilities, the African Disability Alliance, South Asia Disability Forum, and Special Talent Exchange Program in Pakistan, with which we have had an ongoing partnership in this wider project.

WEI's Report is the first-ever report and map and it includes data, analysis and infographics of the leaders, venues, and locations where women's disability rights advocates and organizations are especially active, where the gaps are, and where there are opportunities for collaboration, and helps in achieving greater collective impact.

An overwhelmingly clear finding from the Report is that the growing number of disabled women and their organizations working for the rights of women and girls with disabilities is increasingly passionate, energetic and committed to this urgent effort. Furthermore, these women want to work collaboratively, share a desire to enhance their skills and demand their rights unequivocally. These findings form the basis for the development of enhanced mechanisms for collaboration and significantly increased funding for these organizations and this important work.

Through an online survey launched on August 18, 2015 and interviews conducted in January and February 2016, WEI produces this comprehensive mapping report of the field of advocates for the rights of women and girls with disabilities globally and nationally, released on March 8, 2016, International Women's Day.”

A webpage from the Foundation Center, which gives hyperlinked access to the funding profiles of various international causes such as disability, access to justice, and gender equality. In addition there are links to the annual Key Findings on Global Foundation Grantmaking reports published by the Center 

This is the third Technical Report in a three part series for the two year DFAT Australian Aid funded project (2013-2015), Promoting the Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Disaster Management in Indonesia. This report details the development, refinement and field–testing of the Disability Inclusive Disaster Resilience (DiDR) tool. The purpose of the DiDR tool is to identify the resilience and capabilities of people with disabilities to natural disasters in their family and community setting. The tool is designed to be used by people with disabilities, their families or carers and thereby to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) policy making and strategy implementation. The tool assesses the resilience of people with disabilities by bringing together four components known to be fundamental to disaster risk reduction: the individual’s functioning status, their level of participation in their communities, the physical vulnerability of their place of residence, and individual risk predictors known to influence the behaviour of the general population before, during and after a natural hazard emergency. In February and March 2015, the survey teams administered the DiDR Tool by interviewing 289 people with disabilities or their carers in four Indonesian Districts affected by diverse natural hazards 

"This toolkit is designed as a practical resource for disabled people's organisations (DPOs), particularly those working in the global South, on how to use research knowledge in their programmes, campaigning and advocacy work"
Note: contact publisher to request copies of this toolkit in alternative formats