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Protecting disabled people during armed conflict in North Kivu: Challenges and perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2022

Ibrahim Ngila Kikuni  and
Florent Munenge Mudage
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Abstract

This study analyses the situation of persons with disabilities caught up in armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular in North Kivu Province. The study goes beyond the few statistics available – which show the vulnerability of persons with disabilities during humanitarian crises – to identify the obstacles to taking persons with disabilities into account in humanitarian action in North Kivu. As a result, the study provides practical recommendations to overcome these obstacles, fill in the gaps in humanitarian action and improve the situation of persons with disabilities by ensuring efficient and effective protection in times of armed conflict.

Keywords

Humanitarian actionarmed conflictdisabilityinclusionprotectionDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Type
Research Article
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 105 , Issue 922: Persons with disabilities in armed conflict , April 2023 , pp. 230 - 241
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the ICRC.

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Footnotes

The advice, opinions and statements contained in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ICRC. The ICRC does not necessarily represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information provided in this article.

References

1 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Plan de réponse humanitaire 2017–2019: République démocratique du Congo, UNOCHA, December 2018, p. 6, available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/r-publique-d-mocratique-du-congo-plan-de-r-ponse-humanitaire-2017-0 (all internet references were accessed in October 2022).

2 According to Article 1 of Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, New York, 13 December 2006 (entered into force 3 May 2008), disabled people are people “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”.

3 Humanity and Inclusion, Le processus HNO/HRP: La nécessité de prendre en compte les personnes handicapées dans l'action humanitaire, Power Point presentation, unpublished, August 2019.

4 Humanity and Inclusion, Présentation au Sommet Humanitaire, Humanity and Inclusion, Istanbul, 2016.

5 Humanity and Inclusion, Analyse des barrières d'accès et de participation des personnes handicapées à la réponse humanitaire en RDC, Humanity and Inclusion, Kinshasa, June 2020.

6 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, above note 2, Art. 11

7 African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), Kampala, 23 October 2009 (entered into force 6 December 2012), available at: www.unhcr.org/uk/about-us/background/4ae9bede9/african-union-convention-protection-assistance-internally-displaced-persons.html.

8 Sphère, Le manuel Sphère: La Charte humanitaire et les Standards minimum de l'intervention humanitaire, 4th ed., Sphère, Geneva, 2018.

9 Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), IASC Guidelines, Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, 2019, 19 November 2019, available at: https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/iasc-guidelines-on-inclusion-of-persons-with-disabilities-in-humanitarian-action-2019.

10 United Nations General Assembly, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Paris, 10 December 1948.

11 Anonymous interview with an OFERDI representative, a DPO active in Kitshanga/Mweso, Masisi Territory, North Kivu, November 2021.

12 Anonymous interview with an ACID Les Kapitula representative, a DPO active in Kiwanja, Rutshuru Territory, North Kivu, November 2021.

13 Anonymous interview with a representative of civil society in Bambo/Rutshuru, May 2021.

14 Anonymous interview with a SYAPH representative, a platform for DPOs in Goma, North Kivu, November 2021.

15 Anonymous interview with a person with reduced mobility, Bambo/Rutshuru, November 2021.

16 Anonymous interview with a visually impaired person, Mangina/Beni, November 2021.

17 Théophile Shukuru, defender of disabled people's human rights, interview on raising awareness of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Goma, December 2021.

18 OAG, Prise en compte des Personnes Handicapées dans la réponse humanitaire en RDC : Enquête CAP multisectorielle couplée avec les Questions du Washington Group, Humanity and Inclusion, Kinshasa, October 2021, pp. 21–7, available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/prise-en-compte-des-personnes-handicap-es-dans-la-r-ponse.

19 The Protection Cluster, led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in North Kivu, coordinates the protection response of humanitarian actors. The co-lead is the Norwegian Refugee Council. It holds a meeting once a month and provides technical guidance on taking protection into account in humanitarian operations. See Cluster, Protection, Orientations du Cluster Protection au Nord-Kivu, PowerPoint presentation, Goma, February 2021, slides 5–15Google Scholar.

20 Humanity and Inclusion, above note 5, p. 21.

21 Ibid., p. 28.

22 United Nations, United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy, available at: www.un.org/en/content/disabilitystrategy/assets/documentation/UN_Disability_Inclusion_Strategy_english.pdf.

23 Humanity and Inclusion, above note 5, p. 28.

24 Statement by a humanitarian actor while drawing up the Humanitarian Response Plan in the DRC, UNOCHA, Goma, June 2020.

25 Anonymous interview with an official at the Institut National de la Statistique, Goma, November 2021.

26 Statement by DPO representative in North Kivu while drawing up Humanitarian Response Plan in the DRC, UNOCHA, Goma, June 2020.

27 OAG, above note 18, p. 23.

28 Ibid.

29 Ibid., p. 27.

30 Ibid., p. 24.

31 Statement by UNOCHA official while drawing up Humanitarian Response Plan in the DRC, Goma, June 2020.

32 Humanity and Inclusion, above note 5, p. 17.

33 Age and Disability Consortium, Humanitarian Inclusion Standards for Older People and People with Disabilities, CBM International, HelpAge International and Handicap International, Bensheim, London and Lyon, 2018, available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/world/humanitarian-inclusion-standards-older-people-and-people-disabilities; and Light for the World, Resource Book on Disability Inclusion, 2017, p. 36, available at: www.light-for-the-world.org/publications/resource-book-on-disability-inclusion/.

34 Humanity and Inclusion, “Messages de sensibilisation sur le handicap et l'inclusion”, unpublished, Goma, June 2020.