Humanitarian Aid – All Inclusive?

Moderator

Marianne Schulze Human Rights Consultant

Keynote Dialogue – Panel Members

Ola Abú Al Ghaib Founder and Chairperson of Stars of Hope Society, Palestine
Valérie Scherrer Senior Manager, CBM Emergency Response Unit

Humanitarian crisis and natural disasters hit people with disabilities hardest. They are at risk of staying behind because they are either hidden as a result of stigma or they are not able to cope when their family networks break apart.
In recent years humanitarian aid organizations have increasingly realized the need to include people with disabilities in their emergency work – but many of the institutions lack the expertise and confidence to consider people with disabilities in their disaster preparedness work let alone including them in their relief work when a disaster strikes. As a consequence Humanitarian Aid usually isn’t inclusive. What changes have to take place to include People with Disabilities in the planning and implementation of Humanitarian Aid? These and other questions will be discussed at the panel and in the booklet titled “Humanitarian Aid – all Inclusive! How to include people with disabilities in humanitarian action”, which will be presented on the occasion of this conference.