Refugees with disabilities advancing inclusion and self-reliance
In Yemen and Poland, UNHCR is working with communities to break down barriers to digital information access and mental health support.
âRefugees are vulnerable themselves â refugees with disabilities are even more vulnerable, in an unknown country with an unknown language.â Liudmyla, a Ukrainian refugee and mother with a visual impairment, has lived this experience of overlapping challenges herself.
Around 20 million people with disabilities have been forced to flee worldwide according to estimates by the World Health Organization, accounting for roughly one in every six of the total 122.6 million forcibly displaced people. The actual number is likely higher, especially in conflict-affected settings. Refugees with disabilities face particular barriers to inclusion and humanitarian assistance â including greater risks of violence, difficulties accessing protection and basic services, and exclusion from education and livelihood opportunities.
While these challenges are widespread, they are by no means uniform. People with disabilities have a diverse array of experiences, due to differences in context, disability type, and other characteristics, such as age. As a result, thereâs no one-size-fits-all approach to disability inclusion â and communities, including people with disabilities and their families, are best suited to identify their own particular needs and solutions.
So, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is exploring new ways to drive change, hand in hand with communities. Two projects supported by the UNHCR Innovation Service â one in Poland, the other in Yemen â exemplify the diverse challenges facing people with disabilities and the creative ways refugees are taking action to address them.
Digital information accessibility in Poland
Before Liudmyla was forced to flee, in 2022, she tried to avoid websites that were inaccessible to people with disabilities. Small font sizes and pop-up advertisements, for example, made some sites impossible for her to use, so it was easier to simply exit them. However, once she fled to Poland, this was no longer an option. Liudmyla recalls:
âAs soon as I came here, I faced the necessity to find the information myself, and I had to adapt quickly and to find ways to look for this information.â
Information accessibility is always important but is especially critical for refugees, who rely on timely, reliable information to make informed decisions, seek social and protection services, and plan for their futures. This is often made difficult due to connectivity issues, language barriers, and â for people with disabilities â inaccessible website features. Arriving in Poland, Liudmyla had to create her own solutions to navigate inaccessible digital spaces. Now, she is using what she learned to help others through a new initiative supported by the Digital Innovation Fund.
In 2024, FIPU and Patchwork, two refugee-led organizations in Poland, came together to tackle digital accessibility challenges alongside refugees like Liudmyla. Working with UNHCR, they consulted with communities and experts to inform an innovative solution: an observatory, led by refugees with disabilities, to advise humanitarians on ways to optimize the accessibility of their online channels. Combining FIPUâs work on information provision, Patchworkâs focus on refugees with disabilities, UNHCRâs expertise in protection and humanitarian partnerships, and the personal experience and expertise of the refugees involved, the Observatory launched earlier this year.
Liudmyla and Eduard â a refugee who is blind and came to Poland from Slovakia â are two of its members. They are leading the testing of five websites commonly used by refugees in Poland. Based on personal experience and their knowledge of current standards, the pair is comprehensively documenting accessibility issues, providing clear, meticulous recommendations for developers to follow.
The Observatoryâs research and recommendations is also informed by findings from focus group discussions and surveys conducted to capture the perspectives of refugees with disabilities and their families. To overcome logistical challenges and ensure a wide swath of voices were represented, the team traveled to meet refugees where they were. âCurrently, [these conversations are] our biggest source of knowledge about the needs of people with disabilities,â says Ivan, the project lead from FIPU.
Resulting recommendations â providing alternate descriptions of images, ensuring that any buttons are readable by screen readers, and using simple language â have been delivered to the Observatoryâs five humanitarian partners and are already being actioned. For instance, FIPUâs website, UA in Krakow â one of the largest information providers to Ukrainian refugees in Poland, receiving around 100,000 views per month â was substantially reworked. For Liudmyla, the tweaks have made this trusted source of information easier to use. Eduard describes the productive back-and-forth of this feedback process:
âThe most motivating part is the readiness of website developers to communicate with us on a daily basis. So, we provide recommendations and they improve the website according to our recommendations. But then they ask us, âCan you please have another look at it? Is everything working properly? Do we have to amend anything else?â And then we look again, and if we see something else or something not working properly, we give the feedback and they improve the website even more. So they really listen not one time to our feedback, but on a daily basis communicating with us.â
The recommendations will also inform upcoming changes to UNHCRâs global Help website. The Observatory hopes their findings can also spur wider change. The team is preparing to disseminate educational materials for website developers and to host trainings for refugees with visual impairments on utilizing digital accessibility tools. Liudmyla reflects:
âIn the broader perspective, because of this project, we support persons with disabilities to become more self-reliant, and we help avoid the exclusion of these persons with disabilities from the society.â
Art therapy for mental wellbeing in Yemen
Thousands of miles away, in Sanaâa, Yemen, 15-year-old Ibrahim has been faced with a different set of challenges. His physical disabilities â which make it difficult for him to perform motor activities, including walking â have affected his mental health and that of his family members, particularly since their displacement. Ibrahimâs mother, Um Ibrahim, describes how, living in an inaccessible shelter, Ibrahim long felt hopeless and largely restricted to their home, while she struggled to identify ways to support him and help improve his quality of life.
Ibrahim was one of many internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sanaâa facing difficulties with disability inclusion and services â challenges compounded by years of conflict and instability. The Humanitarian Cooperation Foundation (HCF), an IDP-led organization, identified a pressing need for mental health and psychological support for this community. So, with the support of UNHCRâs Refugee-led Innovation Fund, they established an art therapy program â the first of its kind in Yemen â to help children express themselves, develop positive trauma-coping mechanisms and social skills, and boost self-confidence.
Since launching six months ago, the initiative has reached 85 young people through sessions that employ drawing, painting, and theatre as therapeutic tools. One of these participants is Fatima, a 20-year-old aspiring artist with a physical disability. âIâve been drawing since a young age,â she says, with a shy smile. For her, art became a source of comfort and expression during difficult times. When Fatima first arrived at the HCF centre, she was unable to walk, which deeply affected her confidence and independence.
Fatima began intensive physiotherapy sessions, which helped her regain her ability to walk, and her artistic talent quickly caught the attention of staff, who encouraged her to join the art therapy programme. The sessions allowed her to channel her creativity into a therapeutic outlet, enabling her to find joy in her recovery. âDrawing makes me happy,â she says. âI draw for the doctors, my siblings, and to keep practicing.â Looking to the future, she notes:
âMy dream is to become a doctor and help other children like me.â
For Ibrahim, too, the sessions have sparked significant changes. In the past, Um Ibrahim recalls, her sonâs physical and mental health struggles kept him from wanting to leave home or participate in daily activities. Whereas, she says:
âNow he wants to travel. Now he wants to go outside to play every day. He wants to go to a new place, shooting cameras and taking photos. Now he has hope in his life.â
Recognizing that caregivers are also in need of support, HCF also offers mental health awareness and support sessions to enhance their wellbeing and their ability to care for a child with disabilities. Um Ibrahim credits these caregiver-focused sessions with teaching her new techniques to care for her son and help him cope with daily difficulties she previously struggled to address. Overall, survey results, facilitator observations, interviews, and follow-ups indicate noticeable improvements in the participantsâ mental health and ability to deal with challenges.
In November 2024, HCF hosted an exhibition displaying the artwork of Fatima, Ibrahim, and other project participants, promoting disability inclusion and showcasing their creativity and resilience. A powerful testament to the projectâs impact so far, the exhibition also represents an important step toward changing the narrative on forcibly displaced people with disabilities.
Creating a more inclusive world
Centering refugeesâ voices and reframing what forcibly displaced and stateless people with disabilities can achieve, as these two projects are doing, is essential to UNHCRâs efforts to address the diverse protection and assistance needs of people with disabilities.
Visually impaired refugees in Poland are helping make self-sufficiency more achievable for their peers. IDPs in Yemen are empowering children with disabilities to thrive by encouraging artistic expression, confidence, and self-reliance. Taken together, these two endeavours represent the diverse tools â from digital technology to creative psychosocial approaches and more â that humanitarian actors can explore to innovate with and for refugees with disabilities.
Find out more about UNHCRâs work with refugees with disabilities. Listen to an audio version of this story.