Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children (ASDC)
Term of Reference (TOR) – Training in Inclusive Risk Reduction Strategies, Emergency Preparedness, and Inclusive Evacuation Strategies
Provision of Inclusive Humanitarian Response to Conflict Affected Population from Persons with and without Disabilities
Overview: Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children is a local non-governmental organization, established in 1992 in Gaza City, in order to enable persons with hearing disability in the Gaza Strip to have their chance in life through education, rehabilitation, and job training and employment opportunities. From its establishment as a small school for persons with hearing disability serving 27 students, Atfaluna now serves more than 40,000 persons annually through a multitude of services and training programs implemented within an inclusive approach. These interventions aim at providing equal opportunities for persons with hearing disability in the society.
Vision: A Palestinian disability inclusive society where persons with disabilities enjoy their full rights.
Mission: Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children is a non-profit organization that endeavors to empower persons with hearing disability as well as persons with other disabilities in the Gaza Strip and improve their quality of life within a disability-inclusive development framework
Project Background:
A CBM funded project titled “Provision of an Inclusive Humanitarian Response to Conflict Affected Population from Persons with and without Disabilities” aims to improve the social, health psychosocial well-being of at-risk persons with and without disabilities in the Gaza Strip. The project empowers the conflict affected persons with and without disabilities to resume their daily life post-conflict. Also, the project will improve and cover the conflict affected persons with and without disabilities with the food security and essential hygiene needs. The project will focus on providing an emergency psychosocial support to children and adults with and without disabilities. The project intends to build the capacity of 20 ASDC’s staff on inclusive risk reduction strategies, emergency preparedness, and inclusive evacuation strategies for persons with and without disabilities during conflict times.
Training Justification:
The Gaza Strip is characterized with recurrent escalations and armed conflict. According to ASDC’s long years of experience working with persons with disabilities in humanitarian and emergency settings, it was clear that persons with disabilities are disproportionately at risk relative to their peers in conflict contexts. They are often overlooked when it comes to civilian protection during escalations. The risk reduction strategies are adapted and accessible to the needs of persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities in situations of escalations have faced violent attacks, forced displacement, and ongoing neglect in the humanitarian response to civilians caught up in the fighting. In some cases, people with disabilities were abandoned in their homes with little access to food or water. Many of them are at-risk of loss of lives or injuries because they could not flee attacks. People with disabilities who reached sites for sheltering often faced difficulties accessing food, sanitation, and medical assistance.
Building the capacities of emergency teams in disability inclusive risk reduction is of importance that will contribute towards the protection of persons with disabilities during escalations.
Problems faced by persons with disabilities during armed conflict can be summarized as below:
Persons with hearing disability are unable to know about hazards surrounding them. Information disseminated about the situation are not accessible to them, they cannot hear what is going at any certain moment.
- Persons with visual disability can't determine the right way or street for evacuation if they are alone and even the instructions on the buildings and streets don't follow the inclusive approach such as using sign language and braille, sounds, or light systems.
- Persons with physical disabilities face difficulties during evacuations they either being left behind or either they lose their assistive device.
Loss of assistive devices was one of the challenges that was reported by persons with disabilities during times of escalations.
Assignment objectives:
A total of 30 training of trainees will be conducted for 20 female and male from ASDC’s (20% with disabilities and 80% without disabilities). The training approach is based on disability inclusion disaster risk reduction. The staff will participate in a ToT training to be able to train people with disabilities, family members, and service providers from partners NGOs on building inclusive disaster risk reduction strategies that will be of support to persons with disabilities and their families in times of conflict and crisis.
Scope of work:
- Introduce types of hazards and risks in the Gaza Strip
- Disability inclusion definitions and characteristics of the different types of disabilities
- Provide the participants ToT skills in inclusive risk reduction strategies, emergency preparedness, and inclusive evacuation strategies
- Introduce tools for disability inclusive community-based disaster risk assessments
- Build the participants’ capacities in risk assessment with disability inclusion perspective
- Train the participants on how to deal with children and persons with disabilities during the disaster
- Train the participants in how to build emergency plans during conflict times taking into considerations the Gaza Strip context, disability inclusion, and family-based emergency plans
- Train the participants on the right and practical inclusive evacuation strategies
- Train participants on potential risk scenarios in practical and interactive approach
The training will focus on phases of preparing the emergency program to train the children and adults with and without disabilities how to protect themselves and their families during crisis times, and how to deal in the disaster time based on the emergency plan. Also, the training will provide the participants with the preparedness methods in emergency times such as prepare the houses, a communication tools and prepare a safety room and emergency kit. The training will depend on theoretical and practical methods.
At the end of the training, the ASDC staff will be able to train other NGPs and service providers and support persons with disabilities and their families on preparedness, safe evacuation and the needed actions in times of conflict.
Trainer/facilitator deliverables
The deliverables of the assignment comprise of the following within the meanings of scope of work as defined in this TOR.
- A total of 30 training hours for 20 female and male from ASDC’s staff with and without disabilities
- Pre and post evaluation
- Training completion report at the end of the training
- Package of recommendations and lessons
- Training materials and plan
Requested Qualifications:
- At least five years of experience in disability inclusive risk reduction interventions
- Proven experience in delivering trainings in disability inclusive risk reductions
- Proven experience in working with persons with disabilities
Deadline for submitting the technical and financial proposals is Monday, 7th March at 2:00 PM offers to be sent to [email protected]