Blog by Marion Steff, International Cooperation Manager
One year ago, Russia invaded Ukraine. One year ago, the European Disability Forum (EDF) and other Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs/DPOs) got submerged by distress calls from Ukrainians with disabilities, family members, friends and other DPOs requesting help.
“Shelters and evacuation centres are inaccessible. How can we leave the country?”
“We need accessible accommodation. Please help us find some!”
“We have a couple, both wheelchair users stuck at the border. They have COVID. Can you help?”
“Evacuation transport is unable to bring wheelchairs. How can we function without our wheelchairs?”
And the horrific distress call that came back again and again “We have children with disabilities stuck in institutions. They don’t have access to food and water, most staff have left to be with their families and they are at risk of dying. Please help with the evacuation”.
One year ago, and after numerous zoom calls where everyone was in tears, EDF and other amazing DPOs and allies got together to support Ukrainian with disabilities: the ones who decided to stay in Ukraine, the ones who decided to leave their country and the many who had no choice than simply staying or moving regions. We had to react, we had to help each other and we had to save lives.
It has never been the mission of EDF to respond to humanitarian crises. Our DNA is to work on “everyday” policy and advocacy, the ones that should be implemented but often are not. You know the ones I am taking about? The right to vote, the right to independent living, the right to accessible healthcare, etc. We felt inclined to leave the humanitarian response to “proper” organisations, the real ones that can put together in two weeks an emergency team ready to go to Ukraine. Except that we soon realised that these organisations often had little experience on how to support people with disabilities in emergency settings. How many calls have we joined, going in circles, where our interlocutors wanted to help but did not have any resources for our community? How many calls did we join, where our interlocutors wanted to do a mapping of needs, without realising that DPOs on the ground were already doing it? It is becoming more and more clear that DPOs are a vital part of the humanitarian machinery – this machine simply does not work without us.
One year in the war on Ukraine, here are some reflections:
- Very few donors have systematically included persons with disabilities and their families in their systematic response to a humanitarian emergency. It seems there is no learning – unbelievably – from one crisis to another.
- Most of the funding does not reach the ground to support local organisations and people who need it the most. It feels like bigger established organisations focus a huge amount of time and money on themselves and it takes for too long to get funds directly to people.
- DPOs are more and more invited to share information or to be involved in projects as implementing partners (a good thing!) but no resources are allocated for their work they do.
- Donors and international agencies set project frameworks and determine what is worth funding, without consideration to what has already been done on the ground by local organisations.
- We faced ableist prejudices by international agencies when we manage to get a meeting with them. They can explain their great work regarding inclusion without ever realising that they have never spoken to the disability movement in their country to see what people with disabilities themselves would like and how they could help. Sometimes DPOs were repeatedly asked to meet with international organisations, often a new coordinator, and had to explain and reexplain what was needed, while nothing on the ground really advanced.
Going forward, I have learnt a few things worth sharing:
- Decolonising aid, and in particular decolonising disability, is a battle worth fighting. We want to address discriminatory and ableist practices within the humanitarian response in Ukraine. Funding needs to reach people with disabilities and their representative organisations.
- Working with some donors who get it is key. Donors who understand that people with disabilities and their representative organisations must be involved because they know what is best for them.
- Addressing unequal power dynamics, systemic ableism and advocating for DPOs to be provided with the human, financial and technical resources, as equal partners are things we must keep fighting for.
- Preparedness is key! Much of the running around everybody has experienced, especially in the early weeks since the invasion, could have been avoided if DPOs had already been part of the planning process. It is never too early to reach out and make these links.
- Localisation of aid is a commitment of the humanitarian community. At EDF, we received more than 2 million euros from CBM International, 12% of our core costs[1] went to EDF while the rest went directly to DPOs supporting in sub-grants to fund their own work on Ukraine. Funding is helping Ukrainians with disabilities and their families; it also supports the strengthening of the disability movement in Ukraine and in the region.
The EDF programme in Ukraine – phase 1 – is soon reaching its end. We are now working actively on funding a phase 2, focusing on reconstruction, building the strength and sustainability of the disability movement. Our objective at EDF is to be able to support this power shift, to play our part in this process of localisation, guided by the experience and requirements of our members. Ultimately, to ensure that all Ukrainians with disabilities and their families affected by the war are included in the response, as it is their right. If you are a donor, if you like this approach and are ready for a power shift, give us a call!
[1] Our core costs are: human resources, administration, accounting, equipment and EDF staff monitoring visits.
For more information, please contact Marion Steff, International Cooperation Manager
To learn more about our work responding to the crisis in Ukraine, please check out our Ukraine page.