Humanity & Inclusion U.S. is thrilled to announce a new funding partnership with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP).

Two grants of $250,000 each, provided through the CDP’s Covid-19 Response Fund, will support Humanity & Inclusion-operated projects addressing the impacts of Covid-19 among communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.

In the DRC, Humanity & Inclusion will encourage community-based prevention on Covid-19 and good hygiene practices, and promote access to health care through the strengthening of women's clubs in the communes of Bumbu and Selembao in Kinshasa. In Somalia, the Humanity & Inclusion-led project will place persons with disabilities, their caregivers, supportive networks of choice, and their representative organizations at the center of Covid-19 preparedness and recovery activities, which will include community consultation and training in inclusive health practices.

Both projects are scheduled to launch in late summer 2022.

The CDP’s mission is to leverage the power of philanthropy to mobilize a full range of resources that strengthen the ability of communities to withstand disasters and recover equitably when they occur.

Humanity & Inclusion is excited to work with the CDP in launching these much-needed community-based projects in the DRC and Somalia. And we are looking forward to building on this partnership moving forward.

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Amina, 55, comes from a long line of herders. Years of insufficient rainfall and climate change have put her work and family at risk, forcing them out of their home and altering their way of life.

Like the majority of people from Decarta, Somaliland, an agro-pastoral community, Amina and her family are herders. She has been rearing animals since she was a child and supported her family until recently. Unfortunately, the growing effects of climate change have brought serious consequences to her livelihood.

“There has been a huge impact on my family and my whole community,” Amina says. “I once owned 20 cows and 20 goats, but we have lost them all in the drought.”

Amina used to depend solely on her animals for income and food to care for her three children and husband, who is Deaf and has a mental disability. A long period of dramatically reduced rainfall and extreme temperatures made it impossible to feed livestock or keep the animals hydrated, affecting many pastoral families like Amina’s. At least one person in the Togdheer region has also died of dehydration.

Families forced to flee

Without their animals, Amina and her family have been forced to leave their rural home and move in with her older son in a camp for internally displaced persons in Hargeisa, a city over 30 miles away.

“It has been very difficult,” Amina explains. “Life in the city is very tough and expensive. We cannot work because we never went to school. We cannot go back because the drought is happening every year and nothing is going to change that.”

For now, her oldest son is working odd jobs to cover their basic needs.

The drought is worsening and continues to spread across the country, causing further displacement and putting millions at risk. Amina pleads for the government and institutions to develop a clear plan to minimize the impact of recurring droughts, and wishes people would build wells and water reserves to cope with the change in rainfall.

After generations of herding, Amina may be the last in her family to raise livestock for a living. She now plans to settle in Hargeisa and enroll her children in technical schools so they will develop skills to thrive in the city.

Supporting affected communities

Humanity & Inclusion supports Amina’s family by financing transportation costs for her husband’s care and services at a specialized hospital. They are also being referred to a public hospital in Hargeisa to access free services.

Working in Somaliland for 30 years, Humanity & Inclusion has been providing support to communities affected by severe droughts since they began in 2017.

Teams provide cash assistance, access to water supply and help assure the survival of livestock for pastoral communities alongside specialized partner organizations—including Veterinarians Without Borders, Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe. The organization also works to ensure that vulnerable populations, displaced individuals and people with disabilities have access to humanitarian aid, as well as rehabilitation and psychosocial support services.

Green Initiative

Humanity & Inclusion is committed to reducing the adverse effects of climate change on populations worldwide. We help communities prepare for and adapt to climate shocks and stresses, and we respond to crises magnified by environmental factors. Applying a disability, gender and age (DGA) inclusion lens across all our actions, we advocate for practitioners and policy-makers to embed DGA in their climate work as well. Humanity & Inclusion is also determined to reduce its own ecological footprint by adapting and implementing environmentally conscious approaches to humanitarian action.

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Record numbers of people are fleeing war, drought, and famine in South Sudan and Somalia. People with disabilities or injuries are forced to take enormous risks to reach a place of safety. Handicap International is working hard to make sure that thousands of people in similar situations across East Africa receive immediate card and long-term support. Collectively, we have a responsibility to ensure that all refugees live safe, independent, and dignified lives.

Across East Africa, hundreds of thousands of people are leaving their homes in search of food and security. With so many people on the move and in need of assistance, Handicap International is concerned that vulnerable people–pregnant women, older people, and people with disabilities–may be forgotten. Handicap International program directors in Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Somaliland explain the situation in each country:

A severe food crisis is advancing across East Africa, Nigeria, and Yemen, with more than 20 million people at risk. Xavier Duvauchelle, Handicap International’s desk officer for the East Africa region, explains the scale of the disaster and how our teams on the ground are responding.

Pavi Mfuma, 5, who has cerebral palsy receives rehabilitation from Handicap International in the DRC.

Twenty million people in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, and northeastern Nigeria have been grappling with a serious food crisis since 2016. Several East African countries have been hit by drought in recent months, including Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, South Sudan and, to a lesser extent, Tanzania. In some countries, conflicts have caused severe food shortages. Handicap International is preparing to deal with one of the worst humanitarian crises since the Second World War.

Bombs under the rubble — Study of awareness of explosive remnants of war among the populations of Gaza (2015)

This baseline assessment was undertaken by Humanity & Inclusion in October 2014 in Gaza.The focus was to collect baseline data related to the knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding explosive remnants of war contamination in communities impacted by the recent conflict. View report here.

Victim Assistance in Cambodia—The Human Face of Survivors and their Needs for Assistance (2011)

This paper examines the lives of victims/survivors of landmines by tracking their historical background, the accident and their present conditions. A broader victim assistance and disability framework serves as the backdrop of analysis in this report. View report here

Knowledge, attitudes and practices for risk education: How to implement KAP surveys (2009)

This guide provides a systematic basis for the implementation of a KAP (knowledge, attitudes and practices) survey on landmines and explosive remnants of war. View report here

Recommendations for national action plans on victim assistance (2009)

Humanity & Inclusion recommendations to support stakeholders involved in creating and updating National Action Plans on Victim Assistance (2010-2014), in accordance with international humanitarian and human rights standards. View report here

Circle of impact: The fatal footprint of cluster munitions on people and communities (2007)

Ninety-eight percent of people killed or injured by cluster submunitions are civilians living in the aftermath of war. This Humanity & Inclusion report documents the impact of cluster munitions on the lives of people and communities in 25 countries and territories. View the report here.

Knowledge, attitudes, practices related to landmine and unexploded ordnance: North West zone, Somalia (2007)

This study evaluates the impact of the Mine Risk Education project implemented by Humanity & Inclusion in Somaliland, by gathering information on the evolution of the population’s knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding mine and unexploded ordnance safety and awareness. View report here

Recommendations for the victim assistance provisions in a treaty banning cluster munitions: A practitioners’ perspective (2007)

This document provides common recommendations for victim assistance provisions, which should be included in a future treaty to ensure that its implementation will respond to the needs and rights of cluster munition victims. View report here

What rights for mine victims? Reparation, compensation: From legal analysis to political perspectives (2005)

This study examines different areas of international law in order to compile the potential legal means which could be claimed by landmine victims, allowing for compensation. View report here

Acting Against Landmines: The Position of Handicap International (now known as Humanity & Inclusion) (2001)

Humanity & Inclusion helped to initiate and run an international movement aimed at the total prohibition of landmines: the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). View report here

Towards Real Assistance to Landmine Victims: the Position of Handicap International (now known as Humanity & Inclusion) (2000)

By banning antipersonnel landmines, States Parties committed themselves to providing assistance to landmine victims. Despite the efforts first made and the declarations of intention, much remains to be done in the area of victim assistance. View report here

In Somalia, Humanity & Inclusion continues to run programs under the operating name "Handicap International." 

Humanity & Inclusion in Somalia/Somaliland

Operating in the Somaliland since 1992, Humanity & Inclusion's 73-person team works to ensure people with disabilities have access to critical services and are included in humanitarian action.

Areas of Intervention

• Integrated humanitarian assistance
• Lifesaving protection services and support, food security, WASH
• Psychosocial support and mental health
• Protection against violence and abuse
• Disaster preparedness
• Inclusive emergency response

In Mogadishu, teams are focusing on promoting inclusive humanitarian action through two projects to raise awareness around inclusive humanitarian action in areas of WASH, MEAL and protection. One of the projects is in partnership with Danish Refugee Council. Through these projects, various aspects of inclusive Humanitarian Action have been explored, including how to collect quality data on disability, inclusive communication and exposure to various frameworks such as the IASC guidelines on inclusion of people with disabilities and the CRPD. The interest of humanitarian/mainstream actors about disability inclusion has been raised and continues to gain momentum.

In the Woqooyi Galbeed, Awdal and Togdheer regions of Somaliland and Benaadir of Somalia, Humanity & Inclusion supports at-risk people in accessing protection, psychosocial and mental health support, health and functional rehabilitation, and works towards ensuring that humanitarian action is inclusive of people with disabilities and other populations at risk of being excluded.

Our Past Work

Humanity & Inclusion has been working in the Somaliland for more than 27 years, promoting inclusion for ALL people with disabilities and who are vulnerable. Over time, we have evolved our work to meet the dynamic needs of the communities where we serve.  

Read on to learn more about our past work in Somalia, and consider investing in our future.

Human Rights

From 2010-2014, Humanity & Inclusion and its partners implemented a human rights project that strengthened the capacity of 15 organizations run by and for people with disabilities at a grassroots level to empower people with disabilities to actively promote and advocate for their rights for protection and inclusion. A major outcome of this intervention was the development of a Disability Policy for Somaliland and Puntland.

Famine Response

Following severe droughts in 2017, Humanity & Inclusion decided to respond to the crisis along two axes: inclusion mainstreaming for NGOs working on the humanitarian response, and stimulative therapy for malnourished children.

Rehabilitation 

Humanity & Inclusion worked with DPOs in Somaliland to improve the quality, accessibility, and durability of rehabilitation services for victims of armed conflicts. 

This project focused on three objectives:  

1. Training members of DPOs in leadership and management skills
2. Providing financial support for civic education sessions 
3. Supporting advocacy campaigns for inclusion

Road Safety

In Garowe, Puntland, Humanity & Inclusion trained village leaders to run road safety awareness campaigns for children, pedestrians, and drivers. 

The organization also ran workshops with the local authorities to define road safety policies.