Together We Stand

[ 42 ] Disability is not inability: water means dignity for disabled refugees in Uganda Miikka Niskanen, Head of Humanitarian Aid, World Vision Finland; and Claus Jerker Lindroos, Director, Unit for Humanitarian Assistance and Policy I n the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), the state parties involved agree that community services and facilities for the general population shall be available on an equal basis to persons with disabilities and be responsive to their needs. Yet, in most humanitarian contexts this does not materialize. The World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul and beyond constitutes a unique opportunity to advance efforts to make sure that no one is left behind in humanitarian action, as stated in the report of the Secretary General for the summit. Achieving this requires both political commitments at global level and concrete steps at local level. Humanitarian action must be made inclusive of persons with disabilities. There are some 1 billion persons with disabilities in the world. This group is among the worst affected in disaster and conflict situations due to discrimination and various obstacles. Awareness and understanding of the need to include and provide particular support to people with disa- bilities is growing, but this group is still today rarely heard and taken into account in the planning and implementation of humanitarian operations. An encouraging example of what concretely can be done to improve the situation is given by World Vision Uganda in partnership with World Vision Finland and with finan- cial support from the Unit for Humanitarian Assistance and Policy of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. World Vision Uganda has successfully taken action to address the situation and rights of disabled refugees and host community members of the Kyangwali and Adjumani refugee settlements in Uganda between 2014 and 2016. Needs assessments carried out in both settlements indi- cated that clean water points in the settlements were not accessible to persons with different kinds of disabilities, independent transportation of water was very challeng- ing for them and latrines and hand-washing facilities in homes and institutions, like schools, were not inclusively Accessible latrine blocks help to remove environmental, attitudinal and institutional barriers to WASH faced by people living with disabilities Jerry-can tippers and wheeled water carriers help disabled inhabitants to improve their independent water transportation and use Image: World Vision Uganda Image: World Vision Uganda T ogether W e S tand