A temporary working group of the DRG was set up in October 2025 to support the stock-take of the IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action. The Working Group is co-led by DRG Co-Chair Ulrike Last and by the IASC Secretariat, represented by Isabella Karvinen. Membership is comprised of UN agencies, OPDs and international NGOs. It meets monthly. The working group collaborates with and advises HERA, a consultancy firm hired to implement the stock take. See its Terms of Reference.

More than six years have passed since November 2019, when the IASC Guidelines on disability inclusion were launched. The guidelines were developed with and for persons with disabilities as well as other humanitarian actors to address the critical gaps and risks they face during humanitarian emergencies. The Disability Reference Group (DRG) and its members have been collaborating to support local and international humanitarian responders to understand and use the guidelines.

After six years of such collective action and following a related UN Secretariat Executive Committee decision in 2024, a stock-take was initiated to assess whether critical gaps in knowledge, meaningful participation of persons with disabilities, accountability, and effectiveness have been addressed through the use of the guidelines, with the DRG leading the work. The DRG fundraised and received support from the German Federal Foreign Office via Humanity & Inclusion’s Leave no-one behind project to undertake the stock-take. It will take place until the end of October/ beginning of November 2026.

The stock take will help us to explore the understanding and uptake of the IASC Guidelines as per its intended objectives to advance:

o Guidance on inclusive programming and coordination,

o Accountability towards persons with disabilities in crisis,

o Capacities of humanitarian stakeholders, and

o Promote & ensure Meaningful Participation of Persons with disabilities.

It is neither an evaluation nor a policy review, but meant to generate critical evidence on whether and how far the IASC Guidelines on Disability Inclusion have been understood and used to influence current humanitarian programming and coordination across the sectors, as well as among the different stakeholder groups, that include OPDs, humanitarian leadership, programmers, clusters and sector leads, governments as well as donors.

The evidence will be generated through a global survey, regional and key informant consultations, and three country level visits that will allow for a deep dive into core issues at the local response level. It will be used to draw up concrete, actionable recommendations and learning points to address gaps faced by persons with disabilities in the current humanitarian ecosystem, which continues to transform with the Humanitarian Reset on one hand and the funding cuts on the other.

For more information contact: cochairs@disabilityreferencegroup.org