HI's commitment to fight violence against women and girls with disabilities: Interview with Corinne Gillet

HI has adopted an institutional "Age, Gender and Disability" policy which commits to systematically considering disability, gender and age as possible factors of exclusion or vulnerability in our actions. This policy provides us with the means of ensuring that women, men, girls and boys, with or without disabilities, are taken into consideration and have access, on an equal basis with others, to the benefits of our actions.
This shows how HI complies at the highest level with the "Leaving No One Behind" principle, the central pledge of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

To this end, we follow four guiding principles: participation, equality and non-discrimination, accessibility and protection of our beneficiaries. We have also adopted a two-pronged approach: on the one hand, to be disability, gender and age sensitive in all areas of the organization's work; and on the other hand, wherever possible, to be transformative to achieve effective inclusion. 

    
Equality and non-discrimination. We commit to systematically paying attention to inequalities relating to disability, gender and age and how they interact with other factors that create inequality (sexual orientation, socio-economic status, geographical location, ethnic origin, etc.). This will allow people who are discriminated against on this basis, to benefit from our actions on an equal footing with everybody else. Moreover, as we acquire a more detailed understanding of situations of exclusion and the power relations that build them, we will be better equipped to pre-empt the abuses of power in which violence is rooted.

Participation is a key principle. It commits us to involving boys, girls, women, and men of different ages (children and the elderly)—including people with different disabilities—in the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of our actions.  

Protection is another fundamental principle. Our Disability, Gender and Age Policy has been developed in line with the organization’s institutional policies and guidelines, in particular the "Child Protection Policy" (PEP) and the "Policy for the Protection of Beneficiaries against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment" (PEAHS). These policies affirm our determination to combat the sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment of children and adults benefiting from or impacted by HI's interventions and to implement measures to reduce risks on our programs.