CBM in Action

VIVID Project

CBM Ireland led a new project funded by EU Aid Volunteers, focused on improving inclusion in volunteer management and humanitarian action.

Persons with disabilities are estimated to represent 15% of the world’s population. In humanitarian contexts their mortality rate is two to four times higher than persons without disabilities. Therefore, humanitarian action projects must evolve to meet the needs of people with disabilities. VIVID aimed to turn this aspiration into a reality. The project’s aim was to build on the growing evidence of the need to adapt existing programmes to be more inclusive of persons with disabilities. It mirrored the United Nations support for disability-inclusive development as an essential condition for a sustainable future. Through combining the practices of disability inclusion, volunteering and humanitarian action VIVID brings people with disabilities to the foreground of development. Without their involvement, organisations will continue to face difficulties achieving universal inclusion.

CBM Ireland led the project’s consortium and worked closely with six organisations; CBM Global, Abilis Foundation, European Disability Forum, Tearfund Ireland, Viatores Christi and ASPEm. Through close collaboration, the project built a community of practice between organisations in the consortium, sharing expertise internally and with the public.

The main objectives of the project were:

• Build capacity of HQ offices to provide equal opportunities for people with in being a key part of humanitarian response

• Build a community of practice where organisations can build their skills and expertise through training, peer mentoring and guidance.

• Build capacity of organizations to apply for certification and being able to deploy volunteers with disabilities

• Ensuring disability inclusion in programming by identification of barriers and enablers

• All outputs to be truly accessible

• Disseminate our learning and experience in the project to promote inclusive practices in humanitarian action and volunteer management