4.2 Remove Barriers

As long as barriers remain, meaningful participation and full inclusion is impossible for persons with disabilities. It is therefore of utmost importance that humanitarian actors identify attitudinal, environmental and institutional barriers as well as enablers to inclusion, and, in a second step, that they remove barriers and promote enablers to ensure participation and guarantee access to assistance. This report has already highlighted numerous barriers that prevent the inclusion and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in society and the humanitarian response. Generally speaking, attitudinal, environmental and institutional barriers are widespread, which either hinder persons with disabilities from accessing services or participating in community meetings, or make them dependent on caregivers, such as family members or friends. Remarkably, all respondents demonstrate awareness of these barriers and therefore try to create a more enabling environment for persons with disabilities. The following sections elaborate how they address 1) attitudinal, 2) environmental, and 3) institutional barriers.