A YOUNG Angolan refugee with "complex needs", who was raped, and
was living with her baby on the edge of a large, scattered
settle-ment; and a 12-year-old boy, also with complex needs, cared
for by his frail great-grandmother, are among the refugees with
disabilities whose lack of support is highlighted in a new report
from the Anglican Alliance.
Support for People with Disabilities Affected by
Emergencies was produced in conjunction with the Zambian
Anglican Church, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, after
the relief manager of the Anglican Alliance, Tania Nino, visited
Mayukwayukwa refugee settlement, in Zambia.
It found that people who had lost limbs as they fled from
conflict zones did not have proper prostheses (above), and
that those with complex needs were living in places where they were
vulnerable to attack. There was under-registration of the needs of
refugees, and "little or no support" for carers.
The Anglican Alliance will now develop guidance for churches
working with refugees with special needs, and will devise a model
for supported accommodation for refugees which builds on existing
good practice in provision for elderly refugees. The programme will
be the focus of an Anglican Alliance event hosted by the Bishop of
Bath & Wells, the Rt Revd Peter Price, on 18 March.
"People with disabilities need to get higher priority from the
international development system," the director of the Anglican
Alliance, Sally Keeble, said. "However, refugees with additional
needs get particularly neglected. Our mission is to change
that."
www.anglicanalliance.org