Humanitarian Disability Needs Estimation and Screening Tool (HD-NEST)

What is the humanitarian need?

Blanket approaches to humanitarian response exclude those most marginalised and most at-risk. This can amplify risk, insecurity, and harm for people with disability and hinder recovery.

Available data collection tools to guide the inclusion of people with disability in humanitarian action can be complicated and resource intensive to use. Further, the information obtained is not always immediately actionable in a high pressure response setting.

What is the innovative solution?

Widely promoted tools for the collection of disability data in humanitarian action focus on the identification of people with disability and not their needs. This means that additional questions are needed to understand needs and how activities and targeting can be appropriately adapted. In contrast, we aim to develop a rapid screening tool to directly identify the majority of needs experienced by people with disabilities using as few questions as possible. The direct identification of needs allows the timely adaptation of humanitarian interventions to ensure inclusion, reduce risk, and prevent harm.

What are the expected outcomes?

In the first phase, we will review current disability related data collection tools and question sets and assess their suitability for adaption and use in humanitarian settings. We will then develop a prototype rapid needs assessment tool, including conceptual testing and translation for use in Indonesian and the Philippines. We will consult with organisations of people with disability and humanitarian actors throughout.

In the second phase, we will pilot and rigorously test the prototype tool. This will include refining the tool and ensuring the tool is accurate and fit for purpose.