Humanity & Inclusion

Programs: Emergency: handicap international dba humanity & inclusion responds to conflicts, natural disasters, and food crises, with a focus on providing immediate assistance to the most vulnerable victims. In particular, we provide services to people with injuries and disabilities, older people, and isolated women and children and meet their specific needs. By offering a multidisciplinary humanitarianresponse to refugees, displaced people, and the most vulnerable affected populations, hi ensures that no one is left on the sidelines of aid during an emergency. In 2017, 40% of funds raised in the u. S. Supported emergency relief efforts. Teams responded to food insecurity in mali and the democratic republic of the congo, and the consequences of conflict in iraq. Ongoing humanitarian emergencies also received support in countries such as bangladesh, central african republic, jordan, lebanon, and south sudan. Political conflict and security issues in mali resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, and created severe food insecurity for millions. To support the needs of the most vulnerable, hi led a consortium of partners providing emergency food and livelihood support to people in northern mali. Cash transfers and food vouchers allowed them to purchase food and other basic goods. In the democratic republic of the congo's kasai region, a crisis of massive scale struck two million people. Thousands fled from their villages. Our teams organized massive food distributions. These projects were possible thanks to generous support from the american people through usaid grants, and benefitted 42,050 people in 2017. In july, iraqi authorities announced the end of the battle to retake the beleaguered city of mosul. Fighting in mosul had displaced more than one million people. Civilians living in hot displacement camps, without adequate supplies, wanted to return home as soon as possible. To protect families from explosive remnants of war, our risk education teams handed out pamphlets and gave short talks to several thousand civilians as they waited for buses back to mosul. Before buses departed, these people knew how to spot, avoid, and report the weapons they might find at home. For people injured in the conflict, as well as those with disability or chronic illness, staff provided physical therapy and counseling.

rehabilitation: physical and functional rehabilitation paves a vital path towards autonomy for people with injuries, chronic disease, or disability. As a pioneer in humanitarian rehabilitation, especially after natural disaster and conflict, handicap international dba humanity & inclusion has firmly embedded physical and functional rehabilitation components into many of our projects. This core expertise continues to drive our work, and 21% of the funds raised in the u. S. During 2017 supported rehabilitation projects in places such as mali, niger and senegal, the democratic republic of the congo, nepal, kenya, lebanon, sri lanka and togo. In kenya, our teams in the dadaab and kakuma refugee camps worked to protect refugees with disabilities, and boost their resilience. Our experts trained refugees to conduct physical therapy sessions and home visits. In nepal, a multi-year project to strengthen physical rehabilitation services continued. Meanwhile, communities welcomed more nepalis with disability into their communities, with individuals enjoying independence thanks to mobility devices, and access to livelihoods. In vietnam, community, and institutional-based rehabilitation staff worked to improve the quality of life for persons with brain lesions, and to expand access to rehabilitation for these individuals. Teams worked to adopt a system to care for people with brain lesions, while improving the skills, knowledge and capacities of rehabilitation professionals.

armed violence reduction: a comprehensive humanitarian mine action strategy is key to achieving not just lands free of weapons, but also to ensuring that civilians living in dangerous zones are well informed about the risks of unexploded ordnance in their communities, and the ways to stay safe. In 2017, 16% of funds raised by the u. S. Office of handicap international dba humanity & inclusion supported activities to reduce armed violence, and support victims of explosive remnants of war in burma, colombia, laos, lebanon, niger, senegal, and thailand. Hi's demining team deployed in colombia, where they conducted non-technical surveys in vistahermosa, meta department, followed by clearance. This critical work enabled the return of safe land to local authorities and communities. In lebanon, demining teams continued their critical work in partnership with the lebanese mine action center to restore the conditions required for sustainable economic and social development, as well as the security of the population. In niger, hi worked with partners to keep civilians safe. Together, they strengthened the skills and capacity of stakeholders and institutions in charge of small arms and light weapons control, and the physical security and management of weapons and ammunitions. By having weapons ammunition storage sites meet international norms, we reduced the risk of unplanned explosions in ammunition stores.