Disability and Inclusion Specialist

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.
The IRC and its consortium partners have been selected by British High Commission (BHC) Kampala for the Refugee Support, Empowerment and Transformation (ReSET) Programme, pillar 1. ReSET programme aims to make Uganda’s refugee response more sustainable and locally owned, while protecting refugees’ rights, delivering lifesaving aid, and supporting self-reliance and resilience.
The IRC leads Pillar 1 (Lifesaving Assistance) through a local consortium of Refugee-Led Organisations Network (RELON), Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation (TPO) Uganda and Uganda Network on Law, Ethics and HIV/AIDS (UGANET). Pillar 1 meets core needs, such as food security and protection, for the most vulnerable refugees (typically new arrivals) and host communities facing acute shocks. It applies a cash-first principle, primarily multipurpose cash linked to protection and referral systems.
ReSET will improve the ability of the most vulnerable refugees and host communities to meet core needs, withstand shocks, and avoid negative coping strategies, along with better community cohesion, more resilient local economies, and a more efficient, effective, and sustainable refugee response. The programme is built on vulnerability-based targeting, a “no wrong door” approach, closed-loop referrals, community-informed accountability, and the progressive transfer of leadership to government, national organizations and refugee-led organizations (RLOs). Stabilized households will be voluntarily connected to ReSET Pillar 2 and other self-reliance opportunities, with a route back to humanitarian assistance if vulnerability re-emerges.
The programme covers 10 refugee settlements across 4 regions (West Nile, Mid-Western, Northern, South-Western), in close coordination with OPM, UN agencies, INGOs, national NGOs and district local governments.
JOB SUMMARY
The Disability and Inclusion Specialist will make sure that persons with disabilities and other groups at risk of exclusion (including on the basis of gender, age, ethnicity, nationality or displacement status), including refugees and host community members, can meaningfully access, participate in, feel dignified and benefit from every part of ReSET Pillar 1 on an equal basis with others. The specialist will lead the technical approach to disability and wider inclusion in targeting, cash assistance, protection, referral and accountability, and will work with all consortium partners as a consortium lead on disability and inclusion, accountable for reviewing program processes and adapting programming approaches as needed.
The role combines technical leadership, hands-on capacity strengthening and partnership. The specialist will work closely with Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), refugee-led organizations, disability service providers and community groups representing other people at risk of exclusion, and will make sure that persons with disabilities and other at-risk groups help shape how the programme is designed, delivered and reviewed. The specialist will also generate evidence and learning on what works for inclusive cash and protection, with a particular focus on disability, in Uganda's refugee response.
MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. Strategy and technical leadership
Develop and lead the implementation of a Pillar 1 disability and inclusion strategy and action plan. Align it with FCDO requirements, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, the Humanitarian Inclusion Standards for Older People and People with Disabilities, relevant gender equality and protection mainstreaming standards and the IRC's Safe, Inclusive and Transformative (SIT) Programming approaches.
Advise programme leadership and consortium partners on disability and wider inclusion in programme design, adaptation and decision-making.
Support the integration of disability and wider inclusion into work plans, budgets, risk management and donor reporting.
Validate the GEDSI analysis with Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), women-led refugee organisations (WROs) and refugee-led organisations; establish the baseline accessibility audit and disability data; and agree inclusion standards with all consortium partners before client-facing delivery begins.
Conduct quarterly reviews of targeting, registration, cash delivery, referral and feedback outcomes for bias and exclusion; with recommendations and actions for program adaptation.
2. Inclusive targeting, registration and cash assistance
Review targeting and vulnerability criteria so that persons with disabilities, and households that include them, are identified fairly and are not left out, alongside other groups at heightened risk such as female-headed households, older persons, adolescents, unaccompanied and separated children, and people at risk because of ethnicity or nationality. Use appropriate tools such as the Washington Group Short Set of Questions and age, gender and diversity analysis.
Work with the cash and market-based programming teams to identify and reduce barriers in registration, verification, delivery mechanisms, financial service providers and post-distribution monitoring that affect persons with disabilities and other at-risk groups.
Advise on how to account for the additional costs of reasonable accommodations, such as assistive devices, transport and personal assistance, in transfer values and in complementary support, and on the specific risks and needs of other at-risk groups (for example, safe access to cash for women and girls).
3. Protection, referral and case management
Strengthen links between cash assistance and protection services so that persons with disabilities and other at-risk groups can reach case management, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), gender-based violence (GBV) response, child protection and legal aid.
Help develop and maintain accessible, up-to-date referral pathways to specialist services, including rehabilitation, assistive technology, health, education and livelihoods providers.
Work with TPO Uganda, UGANET and IRC protection teams to make case management and psychosocial support inclusive. Support them on safeguarding and on the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (PSEAH) for persons with disabilities and other at-risk groups.
4. Partnership and participation
Identify and build relationships with OPDs, disability-focused organizations and other organizations representing groups at risk of exclusion, such as women's and youth groups at national, district and settlement levels. Create regular channels for them to take part in programme planning, monitoring and review.
Make sure OPDs and other representative organizations are involved in validating the Phase 1 analyses and take part in targeting validation, accessibility review and programme governance, so that they help shape decisions and are not only consulted
Work with RELON and its member organizations to strengthen the leadership and participation of refugees with disabilities and other at-risk groups, including women and youth.
Represent the IRC and ReSET in relevant disability, inclusion, gender, protection and cash working groups and coordination forums. Coordinate with OPM, district local governments, UN agencies and other partners.
5. Capacity strengthening
Assess the disability and inclusion capacity of IRC staff and consortium partners, and design and deliver a practical capacity strengthening plan.
Conduct training, coaching and on-the-job support on topics such as inclusive communication, disability-sensitive data collection, age, disability inclusion in humanitarian actions core concepts and approaches, gender and diversity analysis, accessibility, reasonable accommodations and respectful engagement with persons with disabilities.
Develop practical tools, checklists and guidance notes for field teams, and adapt them to local languages and contexts.
6. Accountability and community engagement
Work with the accountability team to make feedback and complaints mechanisms accessible and safe for persons with disabilities, including people with sensory, intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, as well as other at-risk g