What is it?
As stated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), disability is an evolving concept: ‘Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others”.
Article 11 of the CRPD covers the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters.
Persons with disabilities are often disproportionally affected by humanitarian crises and natural disasters and remain among the most vulnerable. Persons with disabilities often face barriers that prevent them from benefiting from emergency assistance in a meaningful manner. Also, disability can intersect with other barriers linked to gender, age, or ethnic origin.
Disability inclusion, therefore, aims to consider the specific needs of persons with disabilities to ensure the effective access and participation of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action.
Why is this important?
It is estimated that 16% of the global population has a disability. This proportion is likely to sharply increase in humanitarian crises.
Yet, ways of delivering assistance and protection to persons with disabilities in humanitarian settings remain insufficiently adapted. And despite gaining prominence over recent years, disability inclusion in humanitarian action remains insufficient.
Due to discrimination and environmental, physical, economic and social barriers, people with disabilities are more likely to be excluded from emergency responses and humanitarian services. They also face additional threats and vulnerabilities. For example, not everyone can hear the warning or has a chance to flee. Therefore, persons with disabilities are often forgotten at the onset of emergencies.
The EU is committed to foster disability inclusion. To ensure their full inclusion and participation in humanitarian action, the specific needs of people with disabilities must be considered. The barriers they face need to be removed and their impact mitigated through protective factors and enablers permitting access to and participation in humanitarian assistance.
How are we helping?
The EU is a party to CRPS (2010). In line with the CRPD, the EU is committed to providing inclusive humanitarian assistance.
Policy
Making humanitarian aid inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities remains our priority.
The EU has endorsed the World Humanitarian Summit’s Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action (2016).
The EU promotes meaningful implementation of the 4 must-do actions identified by then IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action (2019), namely:
- promote meaningful participation of persons with disabilities and their organisations
- remove barriers
- empower persons with disabilities
- disaggregate data for monitoring inclusion.
In 2019, the EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department published operational guidelines on disability inclusion. Their purpose is to ensure that the needs of disabled people are taken into consideration in all projects supported by EU humanitarian aid.
The guidelines provide tools to assess and remove barriers preventing meaningful access and full and effective participation of disabled people in humanitarian assistance and protection. The aim is to lead to better programme quality and improved, safer and more accessible services, assistance and protection for persons with disabilities in humanitarian operations. The guidance recognises persons with disabilities as rights-holders able to claim their rights. Our humanitarian partners can also access a dedicated e-learning on this topic.
In 2021, the EU published a new European Disability Strategy. The Strategy commits to ensuring that the needs of persons with disabilities are adequately addressed in EU external action by involving persons with disabilities, cooperating with civil society, and supporting capacity building.
Also, in 2021, the Humanitarian Aid Communication included provisions for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian assistance and protection.
International engagements
The Global Disability Summit (GDS) is a global forum to promote disability-inclusive development cooperation and humanitarian action, taking place every 3 years. It represents a central event for the international community and for the EU, to take stock of the progress made and to foster disability-inclusion.
The third edition of GDS took place in April 2025, co-hosted by the international disability Alliance (IDA), Germany and Jordan. The Amman-Berlin Declaration, outcome document of the summit, contains strong commitments for inclusive development cooperation and humanitarian action. The Commission has endorsed the declaration.
The EU actively participated in the summit and made a set of commitments on disability-inclusive humanitarian aid and civil protection:
- to continue taking into account the specific needs of persons with disabilities and to mainstream disability inclusion in humanitarian operations, from design to reporting;
- to pursue the work on intersectionality for stronger equality and inclusion in humanitarian aid;
- to advocate for disability inclusion in humanitarian aid, raise this topic with strategic partners, and promote equitable partnerships with Organisations of Persons with Disabilities;
- to continue strengthening accessibility and inclusivity in EU Civil Protection activities;
- to raise awareness and promote a disability-inclusive approach through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism;
- through the Union Preparedness Strategy, to take a whole-of-society approach, including vulnerable groups.
The EU is a member of the Global Action on Disability Network (GLAD), a coordination body of donors and agencies, public and private foundations, key coalitions of the disability movement with a common interest in achieving inclusive international development and humanitarian action. In 2023, the EU organised the annual GLAD network meeting in Brussels.
Funding
The EU works towards mainstreaming disability inclusion in all projects, as well as providing targeted assistance.
Mainstreaming disability inclusion means ensuring meaningful access, safety and dignity of PwD in funded operations. The needs of persons with disabilities are to be mainstreamed across all types of humanitarian interventions, by all humanitarian actors.
Elements of mainstreaming include:
- consultations with organisations of Persons with Disabilities and/or with Persons with Disabilities in the design of the action;
- well-developed analysis of the needs of Persons with Disabilities including barriers and enablers;
- accessibility through universal design of school/wash/shelter infrastructures;
- providing information through accessible channels, accessible formats, in appropriate languages and locations so that it reaches everyone;
- adapting food distribution to needs of PwD through accessible locations and adequate means of distribution and delivery.
Besides the mainstreaming efforts, several humanitarian projects also include targeted actions to address disability-induced threats and vulnerabilities. These projects are implemented in various sectors (education in emergency, protection, shelter, water and sanitation, among others) and across the globe,
Recent examples of EU-funded actions with disability inclusion as one of the focus areas include:
- provision of assistive devices, physical rehabilitation, and specialised medical support;
- direct material assistance, including cash transfers, to support mobility, dignity, and ability to mitigate protection risk;
- specialised inclusive case management and victim assistance;
- provision of adequate educational material and equipment to support children with disabilities;
- rehabilitation of learning spaces, WASH infrastructures, and shelter focusing on accessibility for PwD;
- training of staff, teachers, caregivers, authorities and communities on disability inclusion
Since 2019 the EU has applied the disability marker established by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee. It allows us to track projects specifically targeting the needs of persons with disabilities or mainstreaming disability throughout the response.
Over the past few years, we have observed a steady progress regarding inclusiveness of our projects.
In 2023, 50% of the projects funded by the EU’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations took into consideration and mainstreamed the needs of persons with disabilities, and 6% of the funded humanitarian aid projects specifically targeted persons with disabilities.
In 2024, about 50% of the projects funded by the EU’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations took into consideration and mainstreamed the needs of persons with disabilities, and 8% of the funded humanitarian aid projects specifically targeted persons with disabilities.
Funded actions
Türkiye: the heroic struggle of people with disabilities to start over - European Commission
Last updated: 10/04/2025