Persons with disabilities are a significant, and often overlooked group of civilians. In conflict contexts, the majority of the civilian population may be disabled, especially when one accounts for the mental, emotional and physical effects of the war.
“We remember that persons with disabilities are the most and first to be harmed in armed conflicts.”
“States Parties shall take…all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict.”
– Article 11 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Persons with disabilities are a significant, and often overlooked group of civilians. In conflict contexts, the majority of the civilian population may be disabled, especially when one accounts for the mental, emotional and physical effects of the war.
Despite the prevalence of disability and the disproportionate effect of conflict on persons with disabilities, disability is often ignored or considered a “niche topic”. Persons with disabilities are typically absent from the design of policies, practices, activities and services and are side-lined even though their unique perspective is essential for inclusion.
In international humanitarian law and human rights law, the rights of persons with disabilities are well established also in times of conflict. The challenge is not with law or standards but rather in how the laws are recognised, applied and interpreted. Civilians are often seen as a homogenous group rather than understanding their significant diversity. The composition of ”civilians” also changes during the conflict, as those who can participate are pulled into the conflict young and able-bodied become combatants, civilians will inevitably be more likely to be persons with disabilities or those too young or too old to participate in conflict.
Persons with disabilities are not only a significant civilian group but are also disproportionately affected by conflict in all stages of conflict. Pre-existing social practices and a lack of empowerment further endanger persons, as does the absence of the protections and rights established in international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
Often, for example, disability is hidden, and persons with disabilities are kept away from view, leading to a mistaken assumption that there are no persons with disabilities needing consideration.
This publication is based on the premise that contextualized policies for peacebuilding are vital to support the local population in the longer term, and that these contextualized policies must include persons with disabilities. After a discussions of how persons with disability are affected by conflict, there is a discussion of the autonomy vs. protection, persons with disabilities as sources of societal resilience, recent UN developments, experiences of persons with disabilities from conflict-affected contexts, and a way forward.
This publication is done in collaboration between SaferGlobe and the Abilis-foundation.
Persons with disabilities
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.
See: Article 1. of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs)
Organisations lead by persons with disabilities or their family members offering services, support and advisory services.
Human Rights Approach to Persons with Disability vs. Medicalized Approach to Persons with Disability
Codified in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Human Rights Approach to persons with disability views ”persons with disabilities as “subjects” with rights, who are capable of claiming those rights and making decisions for their lives based on their free and informed consent as well as being active members of society… rather than as viewing persons with disabilities as “objects” of charity, medical treatment and social protection towards.”
See: Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from
https://social.desa.un.org/issues/disability/crpd/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-crpd
The way persons with disabilities are treated in society is reflected directly in their resilience in crises. Specifically vulnerable are those persons with disabilities who have had no access to education or support that would allow for skill development.
Persons with disabilities live in families and communities, which may also be affected. The ability to earn an income, either because of disability or because of the necessity to be a caregiver, often makes the situation even more precarious for families. Humanitarian aid may, for example, only be distributed so that caregivers are given the difficult choice of abandoning those they care for and taking the associated risks to get emergency rations.
War veterans with disability are often treated differently than either persons who had pre-existing disabilitities or civilians who became disabled due to the conflict. Especially if the disabled war veteran is from the victorious side, they will typically have greater access to services and suffer less marginalisation and stigma from their disabilities. Hence, war veterans with disabilities may also themselves prefer to be treated separately from other persons with disabilities. Depending on the context, the increased prevalence of war veterans may lead to increased competition for scant support resources and between different communities of persons with disabilities. However, increased numbers of war veterans with disabilities may also support increasing inclusion for all persons with disabilities as well as the quality and quantity of services offered. Specific ties may also be created with organisations of persons with disabilities for a bi-directional transfer of knowledge and expertise.
Protection of Civilians with Disabilities requires contextualisation and understanding of how disability is treated in the local context. This contextualisation is best done with local disability actors and organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) who understand local challenges. This contextualisation should be supported by data gathering to allow for an understanding of multidimensional discrimination that could be faced.
Disability is not only the disability but also the societal constructions and structures that prohibit inclusion. Many of these societal constructions may be both context-specific but also difficult to see for outsiders, especially where persons with disability are secluded, restrained or living in institutions.
Civilians are typically protected (Protection of Civilians) in conflict. The understanding that civilians need protection is crucial for refocusing military activities to better support civilian resiliance and to minimise casualties and damage from conflict.
The terminology of protection in itself is often problematised by OPDs or persons with disabilities. While we may seek protection for those around us, for ourselves we seek autonomy and the ability to make our own decisions.
”We seek autonomy for ourselves and
support for those around us.”
For persons with disabilities, ”protection” often comes in the guise of medicalisation where the person with disability is not seen as a whole person, a subject, with needs and wants of their own, but rather an object, for medical treatment. With this specific sensitivity in mind, protection of civilians with disabilities must be grounded in active agency and participation of persons with disabilities.
When others flee, persons with disabilities are often left behind or even deserted in institutions. Their survival and the survival of those around them are left in the hands of other persons with disabilities.
In challenging situations, many persons with disabilities play crucial roles in supporting others, taking care of orphans and the elderly, yet the supportive structures offered to persons with disabilities often focus only on medical services and charity, rather than their agency.
Often barriers and structural marginalisation of persons with disabilities escalates in times of crisis and disasters. Supporting disability rights may also support resilience in the society and rule of laws.
In times of crisis, preparedness plans are used, which are all too often created without persons with disabilities. The lack of inclusion in preparing mechanisms for societal preparedness in turn means that the needs of persons with disabilities are not typically met or even considered.
Paternalistic attitudes towards persons with disabilities as objects of support rather than as full and equal right-holders create hugely divergent realities related to disability. It also hampers inclusion.
Knowledge of the role that persons with disabilities play in their local contexts and how persons with disabilities should and could be included in peacebuilding activities is limited, and there is much room for deeper understanding and development of expertise.
An example from Yemen of the Importance of Work of OPDs recounted by Dr. Nawaf Kabbara
In Yemen, a woman with a disability was raped. Her brother intervened and killed the rapist. The brother was convicted of murder despite acting to protect his sister, as under Yemeni law, the woman was considered a low status person and therefore afforded a type of protection that would not be afforded to persons with disabilities, creating impunity for sexual assault against persons with disabilities.
Local Yemeni organisations of persons with disabilities were able not only to overturn the brother’s murder conviction, but also to achieve changes in the law.
The Special Rapporteur for Disability, Gerard Quinn, suggests the following in his report to improve the inclusion of persons with disabilities into peacebuilding processes:
These four suggestions are crucial for improving the inclusion of persons with disabilities into peacebuilding processes, especially in the UN context. As the United Nations is a driving force of peacebuilding, these four suggestions are directly applicable to UN activities in fragile contexts from supporting the rule of law to enhancing social protections or creating truth and reconciliation mechanisms.
However, there is still much work to be done to implement and contextualise these suggestions for conflict-affected contexts and for those actors outside the UN. Local OPDs who should support the operationalisation of these suggestions, may find it difficult to understand what the suggestions factually could mean in their local contexts. There is also a knowledge gap as very few persons with disabilities work in peacebuilding and very few of those working in peacebuilding have specific contextual knowledge of challenges faced by persons with disabilities.
Further development is also needed to mainstream triple-nexus approaches to support persons with disabilities, who not only need to be taken into consideration in humanitarian aid, but also need development support for livelihoods and education and finally must be part of the peacebuilding processes so that disability issues are mainstreamed and those statesystems created after the conflict are as inclusive as possible.
[1] A/78/174: 13 July, 2023: Peacebuilding and the inclusion of persons with disabilities – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities. https://undocs.org/A/78/174
The experiences of persons with disabilities in conflict-affected and fragile contexts may be harrowing and typically unnecessary so, as minor adjustments in mindsets or small steps could lead to dramatically improved outcomes for persons with disabilities.
These minor adjustments may be as simple as untying relatives with disabilities so they may are able to flee as well or recognizing that persons with disabilities are specifically targeted for human trafficking to be beggars so more there is greater awareness. Promoting contact between persons with disabilities prevents seclusion, which means that persons with disabilities are not forgotten.
In times of conflict and war, societal systems transform to emphasize unity rather than difference. Resources are driven to the conflict and away from other societal systems. These dynamics of conflict mean not only that persons with disabilities are all-too-easily forgotten but also that issues related to disability are seeds of potential societal transformation towards a peaceful society with rule of law and respect for human rights.
Capacity-building is necessary but existing resources should also be used. There are excellent organisations of persons with disabilities and insightful experts with disability. The final words of this publication come from one such expert.
Human Rights Watch. (June 8, 2021). Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities regarding Persons with Disabilities in the Context of Armed Conflict. Accessible: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2021/06/Protection%20of%20Persons%20with%20Disabilities%20in%20Armed%20Conflict.pdf
Lyons, Erin. Reversing Disability Discrimination in Armed Conflict: Towards a Human-Rights-Based Model for Women and Children with Disabilities, Völkerrechtsblog, 05.03.2024, doi: 10.17176/20240305-220140-0.
Priddy, Alice. Disability and Armed Conflict. Geneva Academy: Geneva, 2019 Accessible: https://www.geneva-academy.ch/research/publications/detail/472-briefing-no014-disability-and-armed-conflict
Rodríguez Caicedo, N., León-Giraldo, S., González-Uribe, C. et al. Access to health services during the Colombian armed conflict: a challenge for the population with disabilities in the department of Meta. BMC Health Serv Res 23, 628 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09472-x
International Review of the Red Cross. IRRC No.922 (November 2022). Persons with disabilities in armed conflict. Accessible: https://international-review.icrc.org/sites/default/files/reviews-pdf/2022-12/Persons-with-Disabilities-in-Armed-Conflict-International-Review-of-the-Red-Cross-b-No-922.pdf
Interview with Dr. Nawaf Kabbara
President National Association for the Rights of PWDs , 28th June, 2024.
Email interview with Iryna Sarancha, 22nd August, 2024.
Interview with Suvad Zahirović, 1st July, 2024.
Humanitarian Law & Policy. July 13, 2023. Accessible: https://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/2023/07/13/persons-with-disabilities-in-armed-conflict/
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. (7 December, 2023) Towards Greater Inclusion: A Discussion Paper on the CAAC Mandate and Children with Disabilities in Armed Conflict. Accessible: https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Towards-Greater-Inclusion-high-res-no-bleed.pdf
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities. A/78/174 (13 July 2023): Peacebuilding and the inclusion of persons with disabilities. Accessible: https://undocs.org/A/78/174
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities. A/77/203 (20 July 2022): The protection of persons with disabilities during military operations in armed conflict. Accessible: https://undocs.org/A/77/203
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities. A/76/146 (19 July 2021): Report on the rights of persons with disabilities in the context of armed conflict.
Accessible: https://undocs.org/A/76/146 and easy-read version: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/ISL146-21-ER-UN-Conflict_Final_web-acc.pdf
Security Council. Resolution 2475 S/RES/2475 (2019). Accessible: https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n19/186/60/pdf/n1918660.pdf
