4.3 Age and Disability Working Group

HI, CBM, CDD and HelpAge International established the ADWG to promote an inclusive humanitarian response towards persons with disabilities and older persons within the refugee camps and host communities. Recently, CBM and CDD contracted an OPD consultant to participate in the ADWG.27 It is intended that member organizations chair the ADWG on a rotational basis. As of late 2019, the ADWG has employed a dedicated coordinator that facilitates communication and coordination among its members and serves as a focal point to other humanitarian organizations in Cox’s Bazar.

The ADWG operates under the Protection Working Group. In February 2020, it agreed on a coordination framework, which grants the ADWG observer status in the Protection Working Group’s task team.28 Among the ADWG’s responsibilities is to support the protection sector through identifying protection and programmatic concerns, contribute to age and disability response strategies, strengthen coordination with relevant authorities on age- and disability-related issues, and support information management and data collection. Through strategic engagement with other sectors, including health, WASH and education, the ADWG also seeks to ensure that age and disability mainstreaming occurs throughout the whole response.29