[PDF-fullMembers] Human Rights Based Approach Guidelines on Disability Inclusion in COVID-19 Response
Lanieta Tuimabu
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Sun Mar 29 19:34:19 MDT 2020
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Subject: [PDF-fullMembers] Human Rights Based Approach Guidelines on
Disability Inclusion in COVID-19 Response
Bula Vinaka All,
Please find attached and pasted below the human rights based approach to
disability inclusion in the COVID-19 response for your information.
GUIDELINE STARTS
HUMAN RIGHTS BASED APPROACH GUIDELINE ON DISABILITY INCLUSION IN COVID-19
RESPONSE
I. INTRODUCTION
The pre-existing and intersecting inequalities and power imbalance can
exacerbate in a crisis situation. In the context of COVID-19 pandemic,
response agencies need to ensure protection to improve safety, well-being
and dignity for affected populations. It is also crucial to recognize the
capacity of affected population in understanding the information and
carrying out their role to respond to and effectively participate through
the various measures in place to combat the outbreak.[1]
Ensuring effectiveness of health services and guaranteeing that no one is
left behind, discriminated against and excluded from the COVID-19 response,
a human rights based approach must be adopted. COVID-19 response must ensure
full and equal enjoyment of all human rights by all persons with
disabilities when accessing health services, taking into considerations
their diversities of needs, priorities, capacities and vulnerabilities to
the outbreak.
It promotes respect for their inherent dignity, ensuring equal
opportunities, upholds non-discrimination on the basis of disability and
promotes meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in COVID-19
response. The human rights based approach requires authorities to ensure
rights of its citizens are not restricted and perceive persons with
disabilities as rights-holders. It upholds people’s autonomy and ensures
that services and COVID-19 actions are gender sensitive, age appropriate and
disability inclusive.
Pacific Disability Forum is calling on all sectors to adopt a human rights
based approach to COVID-19 response and ensure that no one is left behind in
all phases of the outbreak. An upsurge in discrimination against people with
disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic may occur unless all sectors and
communities take action. All stakeholders in recognising the need for
effective inclusion, have to promote equal opportunities for all persons
with disabilities and considering the evolving communication needs and
development of children with disabilities.
The following principles underlines measures that needs to be taken to
ensure that we save lives of persons with disabilities during the COVID-19
pandemic. These principles uphold, complement and support the implementation
of the humanitarian principles and standards, the protection principles and
the DO NO HARM principle, and other human rights and humanitarian laws.
II. INCLUSION
· We need to guarantee inclusion for all, to ensure that no one is
left behind in accessing health services. This can be ensured through:
§ Removal of environmental, attitudinal, communication and institutional
barriers that limits full participation of persons with disabilities.
§ Provision of support services that supports participation and independent
living of persons with disabilities
§ Provision of assistive devices that will support access to health
services for person with disabilities on an equal basis with others.
§ Ensuring accessibility of health services, facilities, ambulance
services, fever clinics and other necessary mechanisms within the COVID-19
response
§ Eliminating discrimination on the basis of disability and the stigma
associated with persons with disabilities
§ Training of health workers on communicating with persons with
disabilities and disability inclusion.
· Mainstream gender sensitive, age appropriate, disability inclusive
and human rights based interventions across all actions of COVID-19
response.
III. PARTICIPATION
· Involve representative organisations of persons with disabilities
(OPD) by inviting them to share their lived experiences, offer advice on
disability inclusion and be the voice of all persons with disabilities in
the COVID-19 response.
· Create an enabling environment that allows persons with disabilities
and their representative organisations to effectively participate and take
action. This can be ensured through:
§ Provision of sign language in meetings, advisories and presentations
§ Ensuring that information shared in meetings, advisories and
presentations are available in accessible formats.
§ Information going out to the general public are available in easy read
formats
§ Ensuring that health services including health workers and health
facilities and all COVID-19 response space of sharing and participation does
not discriminate on the basis of disability.
§ Eliminating all stigma against all persons with disabilities.
§ Ensuring that COVID-19 response meeting venues or platforms are
accessible to persons with disabilities.
§ Provision of ample time and notice to persons with disabilities and OPDs
when they are required to provide technical advises on disability inclusion
in the COVID-19 response.
· “Nothing About Us Without Us” – This means that when dealing with
issues of persons with disabilities it is important to involve them and
create an enabling environment that allows them to fully and effectively
participate.
· It is important that persons with disabilities and OPD’s individual
autonomy, inherent dignity and freedom of choice and independence are
respected and recognised.
IV. ACCESSIBILITY
· Persons with disabilities must receive, understand and act on
COVID-19 information on prevention tips, public restriction plans, and
services offered.
· Persons with disabilities should be able to share their experience
and communicate with health workers and first responders in the COVID-19
response.
· Persons with disabilities should be able to reach, enter, circulate
and use public health care facilities and COVID-19 specific health care
facilities.
· Information sharing platforms like websites, media outlets, social
media pages and SMS advisories should be accessible to all persons with
disabilities.
· Information Communication Technologies should be inclusive of and
accessible to persons with disabilities.
V. NON-DISCRIMINATION
· Health services and COVID-19 response should not discriminate
persons with disabilities on the basis of their disability.
· Eliminate all forms of discrimination and stigma against all persons
with disabilities including women and girls with disabilities who faces
multiple forms of discriminations based on their gender, disability and
other characteristics.
· Stakeholders providing communication and other services including
the general public need to have positive attitude towards persons with
disabilities and ensure that their dignity is upheld.
· Ensure that persons with disabilities infected by COVID-19 are not
discriminated, labelled and stigmatised
VI. RESPECT FOR DIFFERENCE AND DIVERSITY
· Recognise that persons with disabilities have diversities of:
§ Impairments - includes physical, sensory[2], psychosocial and
intellectual
§ Barriers – environmental, communication, attitudinal and institutional
§ Needs – mild and moderate, severe and high support needs
§ Other characteristics – including but not limited to gender,
socio-economic status, etc.
· Recognise that persons with disabilities need support to build their
capacity to be able to fully and effectively participate in COVID-19
response, understand COVID-19 and take necessary actions to save themselves
and their families from the outbreak.
· Recognise that different persons with disabilities will have
different coping mechanisms to cope and might require different support
services to help them act and respond to the COVID-19 outbreak
· Recognise that COVID-19 will have different impacts on different
persons with disabilities and fear and panic caused by the outbreak may
exacerbates the impacts on those with psychosocial and intellectual
disabilities.
VII. EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITIES
· Ensure that all persons with disabilities have access to health
services and COVID-19 response on an equal basis with others.
· Ensure that COVID-19 response and health services are available,
accessible, affordable and provided with quality. Ensuring access to health
services and equitable participation of persons with disabilities in the
COVID-19 response. This means that persons with disabilities:
§ are able to see, reach, and receive services, information, communication
and other facilities on COVID-19 provided in all communities in both rural
and urban areas.
§ have access on an equal basis with others to the physical environment, to
transportation, to information and communications, including information and
communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and
services open or provided to the public on COVID-19, in both urban and rural
areas.
§ persons with disabilities have the ability to pay for goods and services
at a reasonable price.
§ are able to use and benefit from the COVID-19 response on an equal basis
with others.
· Ensuring the provision of reasonable accommodation to facilitates
access to health services and guarantee meaningful and effective
participation of all persons with disabilities on an equal basis with
others.
· Ensuring the collection, analysis and use of disability
disaggregated data to highlight areas of concern and influence decision
making and review of policy, processes and procedures in implementing the
COVID-19 response plan.
VIII. RESPECT FOR INHERENT DIGNITY
· When making reference to persons with disabilities avoid the use of
words such as “disabled”, “people with different ability”, “special people”,
“invalids”, “people living with a disability” etc. These words degrade and
perceive persons with disabilities as different from others in society.
· Use the term “persons with disabilities” when making reference to
persons with disabilities.
· The term persons with disabilities recognises that the person comes
first and recognises that they are people with impairments who in
interaction with various barriers limits their participation in society.
· Recognising that persons with disabilities are people first and
further recognising that their participation is limited due to the
interaction between their impairments and various barriers.
GUIDELINE END
_____
[1] Extracted from Pacific Humanitarian Protection Cluster, The COVID-19
Outbreak Protection Brief, shared on email on 19 March 2020
[2] Sensory impairments include those who are blind, deaf, speech
impairment, low vision, deaf blind and hard of hearing,
Soloveni Vitoso
Public Relations & Communications Officer
Pacific Disability Forum
Ground Floor, Kadavu House, Victoria Parade | GPO Box 18458 | Suva, Fiji
Phone: (+679) 331 2008 | (+679) 772 0300
Mobile: (+679) 772 0132
Fax: (+679) 3310469
Skype: soloveni.vitoso
Email: infor <mailto:ceo at pacificdisability.org> @pacificdisability.org
Website: <http://www.pacificdisability.org/> www.pacificdisability.org
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