All Under One Roof
DISABILITY-INCLUSIVE SHELTER AND SETTLEMENTS IN EMERGENCIES
In humanitarian action, shelter and settlement are familiar terms that fall within the scope of the right to adequate housing. Everyone has a right to adequate housing, and this right is recognised in key international legal instruments. These instruments define adequate housing as ensuring protection from the climate, structural hazards and risks to health, access to essential services and facilities, and appropriateness. Also included as a key condition is accessibility, in terms of both the physical location of the dwelling or accommodation and the ease with which the space itself can be used by the affected individuals. However, despite the best of intentions, post disaster shelter and settlement responses are invariably designed to provide standardised solutions to an affected community without sufficiently addressing the potential barriers faced by persons with disabilities, older people and other groups in living in such settlements and shelters.
The World Health Organisation estimates that 15% of the population are affected by some form of disability. Help Age International report that 12% of the population are over the age of 60, and that this will increase to 20% by 2050. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities highlights the importance of the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of life including in situations of risks and emergencies. It is therefore timely to ensure that the post disaster shelter and settlement assistance adequately reflects the specific needs of people with disabilities and older people.
All Under One Roof aims to bridge the gap between good intentions and practical implementation by offering technical guidance for disability-inclusive shelter and settlement support in emergencies. IFRC - Humanity and Inclusion - CBM (2015)
* This original foreword has been kept primarily intact to give credit to the organisations who first came together to develop this important guidance, but also to remember Graham Saunders of IFRC who was instrumental in supporting the improvement of shelter and settlement programming.
** To access/ read the guidance/ recommendations, navigate through the left hand menu of this page.