Cox’s Bazar was selected as a case study to explore disability inclusion in the Rohingya humanitarian response for five reasons. First, the research could focus on disability-mainstreaming activities in a large-scale refugee crisis where hundreds of stakeholders are involved in the humanitarian response. The crisis is now moving into its third year and is becoming increasingly protracted. The conditions are not favourable for repatriation and the refugees and their host communities are likely to depend on humanitarian action in the years to come. The findings of this study can therefore inform ongoing and future humanitarian activities in Cox’s Bazar.
Second, many humanitarian organizations are aware of the numerous barriers that persons with disabilities experience and have started changing their practices to mainstream disability into their work.
Third, the ADWG strives to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the wider humanitarian response. This makes Cox’s Bazar an excellent context to study disability inclusion within individual organizations and the larger humanitarian coordination structure.
Fourth, HI, Christian Blind Mission (CBM) and Centre for Disability in Development (CDD) maintain a strong presence on the ground, which widened the scope of the research significantly.
All three organizations have been involved in supporting inclusive humanitarian action by providing technical support and capacity-building to different partner organizations, including United Nations agencies and INGOs and NNGOs. Each organization also helped facilitate contact with interviewees, camp visits, participation in meetings and the review of various internal documents on their activities related to disability-inclusive humanitarian action.9
Finally, the environment was sufficiently safe and stable for a research stay. This allowed the researcher to speak with representatives of a large number of organizations at a location of the representatives’ choice, visit organizations’ projects in the refugee camps and host communities, and attend a number of meetings with key stakeholders involved in the humanitarian response.
Importantly, the humanitarian sector in Cox’s Bazar has initiated a process to become more disability-inclusive. This process to inclusion, which involves adjusting systems, changing mindsets and building capacities, takes time and poses many challenges (as highlighted in this report), all of which the sector is now working to overcome.