CBM Global’s statement to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

News | March 9, 2023

Christian Modino Hok, Humanitarian Director of CBM Global Disability Inclusion, will give a virtual statement to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which is currently convening in Geneva. Over the coming days, the committee will hear oral statements on Article 11 of the CRPD Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies. CBM Global made a submission to the committee on Article 11, you can read it here.

Today, Christian will deliver the following statement:

“Since the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit, CBM Global has observed and experienced a significant sector shift and consideration of the centrality of inclusion in humanitarian action which is no longer put into question. The development of the Interagency Standing Committee Guidelines (IASC) on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, the Humanitarian Inclusion Standards, the Security Council Resolution 2475 on protection of persons with disabilities in conflict, the Global Compact for Refugees, and the 5 guiding principles of the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action is a good proof of it. All these policy developments, frameworks, and guidelines have been important in elaborating how Article 11 can be practically applied in practice.

CBM Global is proud of co-chairing together with the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and UNICEF, the Disability Reference Group (DRG). Established in 2020, the DRG is the single and largest interagency platform for global coordination, influencing and knowledge generation and sharing on issues related to disability inclusion in humanitarian action. It brings together more than 300 members from NGOs, UN entities and the Disability Movement. Concretely, over the past 3 years, the DRG has elaborated a new learning package containing 7 training modules, currently being rolled out, to support practitioners apply the IASC Guidelines. The DRG is also implementing a 2-year project funded by USAID aiming at strengthening the capacity of, and collaboration between OPDs and mainstream humanitarian actors in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific in the application of Art 11 in humanitarian crisis situations.

CBM Global is also fully committed to the localization of aid and supporting the role of OPDs in locally-led responses. As an example, in partnership with IOM, we are currently supporting OPDs in Fiji, Nigeria and Bangladesh through a grant mechanism that allows OPDs to develop their own initiatives in strengthening and applying their skills in humanitarian action. Although we are not an active humanitarian responder in Ukraine, CBM Global worked closely with the European Disability Forum (EDF) in 2022 to develop a technical brief to mainstream disability inclusion in cash and voucher assistance and translated into Ukrainian its Humanitarian Hands on Tool mobile application which was developed to support field workers apply disability inclusive practical actions in their work.

Despite all ongoing efforts, CBM Global is conscious that there is still a big gap between theory and practice. The climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine are examples of high profile crisis that show us that protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk is still a pending task. We call on the whole humanitarian community, donors, governments and humanitarian organizations to keep disability inclusion at the center of their priorities and scale up the positive collaborative movement to leave no one behind.”

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