In recent years, the topic of wars around the world has been present practically every day in newspapers and on television and radio programmes. Today, there are 56 armed conflicts around the world, involving 92 countries.

The experience of war causes disruption to everyday life for everyone, the erosion of ethical and moral behaviour, and the destruction of cities and human development. Since the First World War, wars have caused more deaths and injuries among the civilian population than among the military. The evolution of weapons – in particular drones and aerial bombardment – has reduced awareness of the death caused to other people.

The extreme violation of human rights that war highlights is accompanied by the creation of conditions of disability in a quarter of the wounded population. Unfortunately, war reports do not deal with the conditions of these people, hence the need for information on the horror they are experiencing. In this in-depth analysis, we will therefore examine the two wars on which we have the most information.

Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine

The Russian Federation invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The humanitarian catastrophe caused by the Russian army's occupation of the country is producing behaviour reminiscent of cruel and bloody medieval wars, where there were no rules to be respected, only barbaric actions that could be classified as war crimes. We thought that besieging cities, firing on residential buildings, hospitals, schools and defenceless citizens could only happen as “collateral damage”, as they say to ease their conscience. Instead, it has become clear, especially in recent times, that targeting civilian infrastructure and defenceless populations is a deliberate strategy to weaken the morale of the Ukrainian resistance, as is organising mass graves to bury the Ukrainians killed or kidnapping hundreds of children and transferring them to Russia to “Russify” them.

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), as of 17 April 2022, it was estimated that over 7.7 million people had been internally displaced in Ukraine since 24 February 2022, including many of the 2.7 million people with disabilities. It should be noted that, according to the latest census, 3 million people with disabilities lived in Ukraine. In addition, it is estimated that approximately 12 million people are stranded or unable to leave the areas affected by the fighting (BBC, 2022); many of these are persons with disabilities, who have been unable to evacuate or seek shelter outside their own territories due to a lack of accessibility, communications, transport and shelters (IDA-International Disability Association, 2022). In Ukraine, these people, especially minors, often live in institutions, a legacy of the Soviet model of social services (just read Rubén Gallego's book Bianco su nero to learn about the terrible organisational structures) and have had great difficulty escaping. People with disabilities are also more likely to remain in their villages, towns and cities of origin even during the conflict (Mercy Corps, 2022), with protection limited to their own families.

The latest IOM data reports 3.8 million internally displaced persons (2025) and 4.1 million who have returned to their places of origin. Unfortunately, however, they are unable to access the health and social services that existed before the war.

There are no reliable estimates, but according to projections, the number of Ukrainians wounded as a result of the war, according to French, British and US sources, ranges between 350,000 and 500,000 (conservative estimates). Some expert projections estimate that around 25% of those injured will have permanent functional limitations (between 87,500 and 125,000 people).

The treatment of displaced persons with disabilities is rarely equal to that of other persons, who already experience extreme hardship. In fact, civil protection systems do not have adequate expertise, data on the size of this population is not collected, and their needs are even less known.

The Ukraine page of the EDF, the European Disability Forum, shows that in April 2025, more than 70,000 expatriates and their families received support through direct services in Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Moldova, Romania and Slovakia. Over 51% of these people are persons with disabilities and 13% are children. The EDF's role has been to guide reception services in countries hosting displaced persons to ensure respect for human rights, as outlined in Article 11 (Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies) of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This has been the case in the field of humanitarian aid (including cash for basic needs, various assistance devices, transport, food, hygiene and medicines, as well as medical and rehabilitation services).

Other international associations, such as CBM, and donors (Canada, France, Germany, etc.) also intervened, while the Italian civil protection system, committed to welcoming Ukrainian displaced persons, highlighted the same shortcomings mentioned above: lack of data collection on persons with disabilities, lack of expertise on the subject, and difficulty in offering adequate protective measures that respect human rights. These shortcomings have only been partially compensated for by Italian associations of persons with disabilities and their families and Ukrainian citizens living in our country.

Recently, during the conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine, held in Rome last July, the EDF, together with the FID (Italian Disability Forum) and Ukrainian associations, asked Italy, the organiser of the conference, and other donors to commit to a reconstruction that guarantees accessibility for persons with disabilities [read more on Superando.it pages, Ed.], in line with the Kiev government's national strategy to create a barrier-free environment in Ukraine by 2030. Indeed, reconstruction also affects people with disabilities.

Israel's war in the Gaza Strip in Palestine

In response to Hamas' attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which caused 1,182 deaths, more than 4,000 wounded and maimed, and the capture of 251 Israeli hostages, Netanyahu's Israeli government launched an invasion of the Gaza Strip with the aim of destroying the Hamas organisation. This has resulted in nearly 62,000 civilian deaths, including approximately 20,000 children, and more than 100,000 wounded.

The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is now described as carnage, a humanitarian catastrophe, a famine for the entire population. Using hunger as a tool to force Gazans to abandon their territories is therefore tantamount to genocide, using the same tool that the Nazis used to exterminate the Jews. A growing number of Israeli citizens are realising this, leading to increased dissent against the policies of Netanyahu's government, even within the army. It should also be borne in mind, among other things, that the head of the Israeli government is under investigation for corruption, which will not proceed as long as the war continues. 

The images coming out of the Gaza Strip show towns in total ruin, the destruction of all public services, most hospitals out of action either because they have been bombed or because they lack medicines or fuel to run essential services. The only shelters available now are tent cities. But what does it mean to live in such crowded conditions? Firstly, it means not having acceptable living conditions in the height of summer (extremely hot during the day and very cold at night); then, not being able to use bathrooms, let alone accessible ones; living in extreme hygienic conditions (lack of water for washing, but also for drinking, partly because almost all seawater desalination plants are inactive); the impossibility of receiving competent and adequate attention from humanitarian services.

International documents and practical solutions on the subject exist, but they are not applied to the population with disabilities: the first condition for implementing them would be to know where people with disabilities and their families live in order to provide personalised assistance. Unfortunately, the Palestinian population of Gaza is often forced to move due to orders from the Israeli army, making it impossible to identify their temporary place of residence. And the current distribution of humanitarian aid is completely insufficient to cover basic needs (at least 600 lorries should enter Gaza every day, but international agencies report that only a few dozen do).

The number of deaths while queuing for food and water has reached 1,760 in two months (UN data). The American Humanitarian Foundation, the only organisation authorised to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, created in February this year, has no specific programmes to provide the necessary assistance to the Palestinian population with disabilities. This means that access to water and food is not distributed fairly to this population, as was the case under the management of the UN agencies. And the distribution of humanitarian aid from the air, in which various countries, including Italy, are involved, unfortunately does not reach the disabled population and represents a very limited action within the overall humanitarian needs (about 1-2% of daily needs).

Another factor contributing to the systematic violation of human rights is the impossibility of guaranteeing educational activities in schools and universities in Gaza, which have also been bombed by the Israeli army. The educational impoverishment affecting a generation of students – little highlighted by the press – is a further piece of the puzzle of violence against the Palestinian people, notoriously among the most educated in the Middle East. This educational gap will have a significant negative impact in terms of skills and competences in the future. This is all the more true given that in August 2023, as part of the EducAid TEAM project, funded by AICS (Italian Agency for Development Cooperation), I myself, as an expert from RIDS (Italian Disability and Development Network), a partner in the project, met with representatives of the Ministry of Education in the Gaza Strip to introduce new technologies in schools, with the aim of innovating both face-to-face and distance learning. Today, TEAM has been transformed into an emergency project*.

I still remember that in Gaza City, Italian cooperation had financed various projects for EducAid and RIDS, which had previously trained dozens of peer counsellors in both Gaza and the West Bank. These counsellors then created and managed a Centre for Independent Living in Gaza City, named after Rita Barbuto, who had contributed to their training [see also in Superando pages, Ed.]. That Centre, the first in the entire Middle East, run mainly by peer counsellors, assisted about 1,000 families and people with disabilities, but has now been destroyed by the invasion of the ITF (Israel Defence Force). It should also be remembered that in the West Bank, the violence of the settlers, who have settled illegally thanks to the support of the Israeli government, which does not respect the numerous UN resolutions against the illegal occupation of territories, affects the Palestinian populations living there, including people with disabilities.

The commitment of the international community

UN Security Council Resolution No. 2475 of 20 June 2019 states that 'parties to armed conflict have the primary responsibility to take all feasible measures to protect civilians', recalling also “that States have the primary responsibility to respect and ensure the human rights of all persons within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction, as provided for under international law”. Never before had the UN Security Council specifically addressed disability.

The Resolution also urges “all parties to armed conflict to take measures, in accordance with applicable international law obligations, to protect civilians, including those with disabilities, and to prevent violence and abuse against civilians in situations of armed conflict, including killings, maiming and abductions, torture, as well as rape and other forms of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations.” It therefore underlines “the need for States to end impunity for criminal acts against civilians, including those with disabilities, and to ensure that such persons have access to justice and to effective remedies and, where appropriate, to reparation.” Furthermore, it calls on all parties to conflict “to allow and facilitate safe, timely and unimpeded humanitarian access to all people in need of assistance.” It stresses “the advantage of providing sustainable, timely, adequate, inclusive and accessible assistance to civilians with disabilities affected by armed conflicts, including reintegration, rehabilitation and psychosocial support, to ensure that their specific needs are effectively addressed, particularly those of women and children.” It thus encourages Member States “to take appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities have access, on an equal basis with others, to basic services provided in the context of armed conflict, including education, healthcare services, transportation, and information and communication technologies and systems.” It urges Member States “to ensure the meaningful participation and representation of persons with disabilities,” stressing “the importance of capacity-building and of knowledge of the rights and specific needs of persons with disabilities among United Nations peacekeeping and peacebuilding actors,” and urging Member States “to play a central role in this regard.” It also urges those same Member States “to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination and marginalisation of persons on the basis of disability in situations of armed conflict, particularly those facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.” It requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations “to include, where relevant, information and related recommendations on issues pertinent to persons with disabilities, in the context of armed conflict, in thematic and geographic reports and in periodic briefings to the Security Council, as well as to include, where relevant, disability-disaggregated data within existing mandates and resources.” It further recognises “the importance of interaction between civil society and the Council and, in this regard, expresses its intention to invite persons with disabilities, including their representative organisations, to brief the Security Council on relevant thematic and geographic areas and to consider the inclusion of interactive meetings with local representatives of persons with disabilities and their representative organisations in the field during Council missions.” Finally, it urges States “to comply with their obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”

Not all members of the Council accepted the Resolution without reservation. In particular, the representative of Russia – but also those of China and the United Kingdom – while agreeing with the humanitarian principles of the document, stressed that some of its provisions would “overstep” the mandate of the Security Council.

The Resolution therefore commits States to include, within the rules of engagement of the armed forces (Navy, Air Force, Army), compliance with the principles it sets out. Unfortunately, the new forms of warfare – involving bombings and the massive use of drones – and the widespread recourse to contractors, that is, mercenaries who, through a collaboration contract with a State, fight in place of regular soldiers and follow their own codes of conduct often far removed from ethical principles, render the Resolution only partially practicable.

It should be recalled that in point (u) of the Preamble to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the responsibility to protect the human rights of persons with disabilities is emphasised, including in territories occupied by foreign States, as is the case of Palestine under the Israeli government.

Even with regard to emergency and humanitarian interventions, the current situation remains far from acceptable. The aforementioned Article 11 (Situations of Risk and Humanitarian Emergencies) of the UN Convention obliges States that have ratified it to adopt “all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters.”

The issue of the protection and safety of persons with disabilities has been explored in recent years by international debate, with the aim of ensuring equality of opportunity and non-discrimination. The so-called Verona Charter of 2007 (Verona Charter on the Rescue of Persons with Disabilities in Disaster Situations) was the first document to set out the general principles on which emergency interventions for such persons should be based. This was followed by articles and manuals at international level, prepared by non-governmental organisations and organisations of persons with disabilities. For this purpose, one may refer to the bibliography included in Aiuti umanitari e disabilità. Vademecum (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Rome, 2015), published by the Italian Development Cooperation, the first comprehensive governmental document on the subject.

The United Nations has also issued a series of documents on humanitarian aid and emergency interventions: the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction of 2015 and the Istanbul Charter on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action of 2016. On the basis of the latter, in July 2019, a working group of the IASC (Inter-Agency Standing Committee, the United Nations’ main coordination mechanism among humanitarian assistance agencies, a unique forum involving key UN partners as well as other governmental and civil society actors, established in June 1992 pursuant to General Assembly Resolution 46/182) issued the Guidelines for Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Activities, following two years of work involving leading experts in the field, including, for Italy, a representative of RIDS, delegated by AICS.

The common thread of all these documents is the necessity of ensuring that humanitarian and emergency aid fully respects the human rights of all. The humanitarian approach has always been based on rapid intervention, either in the model of military corps or charitable organisations (Army, Red Cross, etc.), with the first approach focusing on limiting losses, and the second on the assumption that the beneficiaries of aid are incapable and solely in need of assistance, mostly of a medical nature. Moreover, humanitarian action is generally conceived as a two-phase intervention: in the first, essential elements for survival and initial reception must be ensured (food, healthcare and shelter); only subsequently are other so-called “special” needs considered. These practices, however, fail to take into account persons with disabilities, who, between the first and the second phases, suffer serious violations of human rights. What is needed instead is the immediate guarantee of the rights of persons with disabilities (accessibility, participation, attention to individual needs).

Prevention and risk reduction in the context of wars must be based on multi-risk and multisectoral approaches, inclusive and accessible in terms of both efficiency and effectiveness. To this end, international documents recommend that governments involve and engage communities and their most significant actors – including women, children and young people, persons with disabilities, older persons and volunteers – in the design of policies, plans and standards; in short, in resilience capacity. Moreover, society as a whole must act as a “committed partner”, with participation grounded in empowerment, inclusion, accessibility and non-discrimination, paying particular attention to those disproportionately affected by disasters, especially the poorest sectors of the population.

In all emergency phases, gender, age, disability and local cultures must be taken into account; the participation of women and young people must also be promoted, by involving and strengthening associations representing persons with disabilities and their families.

The European Union and the Council of Europe have also addressed the issue of inclusive emergency management for persons with disabilities. After a series of consultations with stakeholders, in 2016 the Council developed a specific manual as part of the EUR-OPA programme. The European Union issued the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid. Furthermore, the Council adopted the Conclusions on Disability-Inclusive Disaster Management, and more recently (2019) the European Commission issued the operational guide The Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in EU-funded Humanitarian Aid Operations. This was followed by the well-known European Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021–2030, which also covers activities relating to humanitarian and emergency aid.

Unfortunately, we are still far from a situation where national and international civil protection systems are able to guarantee equal opportunities and non-discrimination. Research carried out by the EDF in 2022, covering 55 European and Asian countries surveyed, showed that only five countries include measures dedicated to people with disabilities in their emergency legislation. And only two countries involve associations of persons with disabilities in emergency planning and management, namely Serbia and Italy. It is a pity that in Italy this only happens for the National Fire Brigade Council, but not for the National Civil Protection Agency. It should be noted, however, that some regional civil protection agencies collaborate with associations of persons with disabilities, as is the case in Calabria, for example.

*The ‘TEAM’ project is still ongoing with important changes that allow local staff, mostly composed of Palestinians with disabilities from Gaza, to bring services (peer counselling, repair of aids, educational lessons for minors, etc., but also food and hygiene kits for women with disabilities) to the tents and makeshift shelters where the displaced population currently lives.

**Member of the World Council of DPI (Disabled Peoples’ International). 

Contribution previously published in Superando and here reproduced with kind permission.