Policy paper

British Red Cross

Published 23 July 2018

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

Form for submitting commitments for the Global Disability Summit 2018

Your organisation

Type of organisation: Other

If other: National Red Cross Society

Name of organisation British Red Cross

Charter for Change

Please read the attached Summit Charter for Change: the principal legacy of the Summit. If your organisation is happy to sign up to the Charter, please confirm by putting a cross in the box below.

My organisation signs up to the Summit Charter for Change x

Your organisation’s commitments to achieve the rights of people with disabilities in developing countries

A. Commitments to eliminate Stigma and Discrimination:

Please select the category which your commitment most relates to: Representation and empowerment of persons with disabilities

Please enter the exact wording of the commitment/s, including details of others who has supported its development (75 words limit):

We commit to using our Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) strategic imperative and its associated processes to ensure persons with disabilities are represented and empowered to lead and shape positive, sustainable change in their own lives, communities and society, alongside their peers.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan (75 words limit)

The next 2-3 years will be devoted to working with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (RCRCM) on a coordinated approach to CEA, building the capacity of our staff, and compiling learning to better our approaches. We will ensure that disability inclusion training is part of all CEA training, execution and learning.

B. Commitments for Economic Empowerment:

Please select the category which your commitment most relates to: Access to financial services

Please enter the exact wording of the commitment/s, including details of others who have supported its development (75 words limit):

Cash modalities have great potential in delivering inclusive aid. We commit to using our position as one of the leaders on cash modalities, within the RCRCM, so they work to increase economic opportunities for persons with disabilities, including access to financial services.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan (75 words limit)

In the next year, we will review current training given to our cash experts, to make sure it is inclusive of persons with disabilities. We will collaborate with stakeholders across the RCRCM to ensure a disability inclusion lens is applied to research conducted to assess current cash modalities and develop those of the future.

C. Commitments for people with disabilities in Humanitarian Contexts:

Please enter the exact wording of the commitment/s, including details of others who has supported its development (75 words limit):

We commit to being a key voice within the RCRCM, in relation to the inclusion of people with disabilities in all phases of rapid deployment in emergencies. We commit to contribute to the efforts of the IFRC in using all relevant humanitarian inclusion standards and guidelines.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan (75 words limit)

The next 2-3 years will be devoted to increasing the capacity of our delegates to address the rights and needs of persons with disabilities, amongst communities in crises, through integrating disability inclusion skills in RCRCM competency frameworks and training.

D. Other Commitments

Please enter the exact wording of any other commitment/s that do not fall under the themes above, including details of others who have supported its development (75 words limit):

A more inclusive British Red Cross is essential to provide more inclusive programmes, and role model inclusion for partner National Societies. We have a target to increase staff disclosing a disability from 6% to 8% by end of 2019, in recognition that our work, national and international, will benefit from the insights of people with lived experience of disability.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan (75 words limit)

Our Inclusion and Diversity Programme is led by our CEO and a senior level steering group, and runs to end of 2019. It includes making our employment and volunteering opportunities, properties and technology more accessible, increasing our disability confidence, improving routes for person with disabilities to have their voices heard, reviewing policies and processes, and improving data and reporting mechanisms to inform decision making.