The humanitarian crisis in the Middle East is getting worse, and persons with intellectual disabilities and their families are struggling.

In conflicts and emergency situations, persons with intellectual disabilities are at a higher risk of danger and exclusion. 

In the Middle East, many people are being forced to leave their homes. Many services have stopped being available. These experiences are heightened for people with intellectual disabilities, who are experiencing these changes without clear and easy to understand information about what is happening.

Where shelters exist, women, girls, and boys with intellectual disabilities using them also face higher risks of isolation, neglect, bullying, and violence. Their experiences of exclusion are often invisible to humanitarian organisations providing aid.

Families, the primary support system for persons with intellectual disabilities, are under extraordinary pressure – taking on additional care and support responsibilities (including mental health support) with little or no support for themselves.

Mariette Ziade, Inclusion International Council Member for the MENA region, shared:

People with intellectual disabilities and their families are often the most invisible and vulnerable victims of war. Lives, routines, and the sense of safety are disrupted. Sudden changes, loud violence, displacement, and uncertainty create overwhelming fear, confusion, and deep emotional distress.

This disruption is profoundly destabilising for those who rely on routine and familiar support systems. Our members are working tirelessly to provide stability, psychological support, and protection, striving to ensure that people with intellectual disabilities and their families are not left behind.

Mariette Ziade, Inclusion International Council Member for MENA

Article 11 of the CRPD gives all persons with disabilities the right to protection and safety in crisis – but persons with intellectual disabilities and their families are being left behind.

Across the Middle East, organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) from Inclusion International’s network are leading with compassion to support people through this crisis by:

  • referring displaced or affected families to disability services and supports, 
  • providing immediate basic aid such as food and medication, 
  • creating easy-to-understand information about the crisis situation and how to get support, 
  • helping displaced families find shelters, 
  • and providing direct support to help them stay connected.

As governments and humanitarian actors respond to the ongoing situation, it is important that emergency response is inclusive and accessible to persons with intellectual disabilities, and that persons with intellectual disabilities and their families are actively involved in decision making. 

Information must be provided in formats that people with intellectual disabilities can understand. Relief services, shelters, and healthcare must be designed so that persons with intellectual disabilities can safely access them. Families and local disability organizations must also be recognized as key partners in identifying needs and delivering support.

Inclusion International reaffirms that the rights, dignity, and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities and their families in crisis is not optional – it is a human rights obligation. 

We stand with our members in the Middle East and with the many families and self-advocates who continue to show courage, solidarity, and care for one another in the face of a profound crisis.

Sue Swenson, President, Inclusion International

Luis Gabriel Villarreal Peralta, Vice President, Inclusion International

For enquiries contact: Jamie Cooke, Executive Director, Inclusion International, jamie@inclusion-international.org