© CBM
CBMs Inclusive Humanitarian Action (IHA) Initiative is proud to announce that a strategic partnership on technical collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been established under the Phase 3- Leave No One Behind! project beginning of December 2023. CBMs technical expertise will contribute to the achievement of ICRCs Vision 2030 on Disability Inclusion through supporting ICRCs headquarter and delegations.
The ICRC is an independent, neutral organization ensuring humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence, supporting people in situations where other mainstream humanitarian actors are often denied access. As the project continues its efforts in promoting disability inclusive humanitarian action, this collaboration with the ICRC, one of the biggest humanitarian players globally, has the potential to amplify the projects and the project partners’ impact.
ICRC and CBM teams have started working on the implementation of a joint workplan, comprising eight activity areas from joint communication to implementing trainings or documenting best-practices on disability-inclusive humanitarian work of ICRC’s delegations. One other concrete example of the envisaged technical priority activities for 2024 is the joint elaboration of OPD engagement protocols for the use of ICRC’s staff.
As one of the first activities of the collaboration, CBM co-hosted ICRCs annual, internal staff webinar on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities beginning of December 2023, where the partnership was officially announced to ICRC delegations worldwide. More than 90 people attended the webinar which focused on the topic of“Inclusion in armed conflict interventions for, with and by persons with disabilities”.
The IHA Initiative facilitated an input to the panel discussion through CUAPWD, an OPD from the North West Region of Cameroon, an area affected by armed conflict. CUAPWD members have supported and have benefitted from capacity development for OPDs in humanitarian action under the Leave No One Behind! Project.
Text by Annika Fuchs, CBM