Disability inclusion in action
Armenia: Comprehensive and integrated services for refugee children with disabilities
Highlights
UNICEF's Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy (DIPAS) provides a framework for disability-inclusive programming and operations.
In 2023, the Government of Norway became the first donor to fund disability-inclusive humanitarian action under the Humanitarian Action for Children Appeal (HAC).
This funding has supported targeted disability inclusion efforts across all seven regions, where UNICEF works, strengthening systems, capacity building, and impactful interventions for children and adults with disabilities.
The report showcases diverse regional interventions, case studies on system strengthening, and lessons learnt to drive further progress.
Armenia: Comprehensive and integrated services for refugee children with disabilities: Following the displacement of over 100,000 ethnic Armenians in 2023, UNICEF Armenia, in partnership with SOURCE Foundation, delivered comprehensive support for refugee children with disabilities, focusing on:
- Providing assistive technology to individuals and community-based centers.
- Strengthening service provider capacity to support children with multiple disabilities.
- Ensuring holistic support, including education, rehabilitation, and family engagement.
Key lessons included the importance of initial awareness and identification efforts, a holistic family approach, and investing in in-depth family support to identify and assist more children with disabilities.
Other key focus areas globally include:
- Disability-disaggregated data collection for informed decision-making.
- Strengthening partnerships with organizations of persons with disabilities.
- Enhancing preparedness and disaster risk reduction with inclusive approaches.
- Support for displaced children with disabilities through national and community-based systems.
- Improving access to assistive technology in emergencies.
- Expanding inclusive social protection via integrated cash transfer programmes.
Scaling up Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) mechanisms.
