Accessibility and Inclusion

Accessibility and inclusion are essential considerations in any shelter response. The following are key principles that the Shelter Cluster aims to promote:

• Promoting and Ensuring Meaningful Participation: Involve persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in the development of community participation mechanisms. More importantly, ensure that persons with disabilities and Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) participate in all phases of programming, including shelter design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.
• Addressing Barriers: Provide reasonable accommodations in consultation with persons with disabilities, OPDs, and their families to facilitate full inclusion. Ensure that assessment reporting tools are available in multiple formats (e.g., for the deaf/hard of hearing, blind, or those with visual impairments), in consultation with OPDs and organizations working with persons with disabilities. Review sectoral guidelines and tools to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities are upheld.
• Empowerment and Capacity Development: Provide training to shelter actors and stakeholders on the rights of persons with disabilities, as well as the interactions between disability, gender, age, and other factors. At the same time, build the capacity of OPDs to engage effectively with shelter agencies and local government units (LGUs).
• Inclusive Data Collection and Monitoring: Use the Washington Group of Questions to collect and analyze shelter and settlement data on persons with disabilities, disaggregating the data by sex, age, and disability.