Quarterly Program Report of Handicap International: Improving the Protection of Children with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action

The program is a collaborative effort between Handicap International and Save the Children, two organizations with a rich history of protecting children with disabilities in humanitarian crises. The program's objective is to develop and institutionalize evidence-based and field-oriented guidelines and capacity building materials on how to protect children with disabilities in humanitarian contexts. The guidelines and materials will be developed based on an analysis of children with disabilities' situation and needs for protection in emergency settings, as well as an analysis of protection stakeholders' needs and practices. The program will produce three key products: guidelines on the protection of children with disabilities in humanitarian contexts, assessment, monitoring & evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) tools, and capacity building materials aimed at training deployable child protection staff to train staff and duty bearers at field-level. These products will be field-tested by the end of the project. The program will target 405 direct beneficiaries, who will be trained in child protection. These beneficiaries will include field protection staff and other humanitarian actors, as well as senior protection staff at the global level. The program will also target 50 organizations with whom the different products will be presented and shared within the CPWG and our partners at global and field level. The program's geographic focus is global, with a focus on two countries where there are emergency situations. The countries being considered for the field test of the products include the Republic of South Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, the Republic of Mali, and Pakistan. The program's indicators include the total number of people trained in child protection, disaggregated by sex, and the percentage of people trained who improve their ability to protect children with disabilities in emergencies. The program's progress will be measured against these indicators, with the goal of achieving 100% of people trained improving their ability to protect children with disabilities in emergencies. The program's needs assessment summary and justification for intervention highlight the dire gaps observed in the field and reported by field stakeholders themselves on technical capacities to ensure inclusion of children with disabilities in their humanitarian services. The Minimum Standards on Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPWG, 2012) includes a standard on protecting excluded children, and Handicap International and Save the Children are the right team to take this process forward. The program's indicators and progress will be monitored and evaluated regularly, with the goal of achieving the program's objectives and improving the protection of children with disabilities in humanitarian action.