WorldVision Case Study

In 2020 Vanuatu faced one of its most challenging humanitarian crises to date: a global pandemic.

While Vanuatu recorded very few cases of COVID-19 early in the pandemic, people with disabilities were greatly impacted, due to barriers accessing prevention measures, such as water for handwashing, and limited information on how to protect themselves from the virus. People with disabilities also experienced significant job and income losses due to lockdowns.

Despite the high vulnerability to COVID-19 and other humanitarian emergencies, people with disabilities rarely participate in the development of action or response plans, especially those in rural areas. World Vision Vanuatu recognised that to reach the most vulnerable during disasters, people with disabilities must be included in all preparedness initiatives and response. As such they have been working with local organisations of people with disabilities (OPDs) to do just that.

World Vision together with the Vanuatu Disability Promotion and Advocacy Association (VDPA), the Vanuatu Society for People with Disability and other AHP Disaster READY partners rolled out life-saving information and awareness raising of the impacts of COVID-19 to ensure the health and safety of communities in Sanma Province. As a team they connected directly with communities, providing COVID-19 information and additional handwashing facilities; handwashing being one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of the virus.

Further, World Vision Vanuatu with support of the Australian Government’s Water for Women Fund facilitated a two-day Inclusive COVID-19 Action Plan forum bringing together people with disabilities, organisations of people with disabilities and key civil society actors to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities are addressed and considered in national and provincial plans.

As a male participant with disability explained, “My opinion nor presence has never been asked of in such high-profile forums such as this. Usually, they always happen in the capital city. Thank you so much for allowing us to come from our rural communities and contribute on how people such as myself can be guided on maintaining safety measures against COVID-19.”

The forum was designed to provide an opportunity for participants to not only contribute to strategies to protect themselves against COVID-19, but to also ask questions about what community transmission would mean for them if it were to occur in Vanuatu.

Relvie Poilapa, World Vision Vanuatu’s Inclusive WASH Portfolio Manager explained, “the forum provided an opportunity for people with disabilities to think about how national and provincial plans impact them, what do those plans really mean for me as an individual? How do I prepare if we go into lockdown?”

The forum also provided an opportunity to discuss awareness raising activities delivered at a national and community level. The discussions explored the limitations of communication mediums used to disseminate COVID-19 awareness, especially for people with different impairments.

Ms Poilapa said “The forum was so important to raise visibility of the need for and to deliver accessible information. A lack of accessible information for people with disabilities compounds their vulnerability to COVID-19. Many people with disabilities who attended the forum weren’t aware that Vanuatu has different alert levels which correspond to different levels of risk and restrictions.”

Participants at the forum discussed how the frequent use of radio, television and videos to disseminate key information was ineffective and failed to reach people with hearing impairments. Further, most communications did not include captioning or sign language.

For World Vision, building a better world for all means partnering with local OPDs to ensure people with disabilities are prioritised during national emergencies and that all health and emergency information is accessible for diverse impairments.

Thank you to World Vision for sharing this case study with ADDC.