Recap of the Living Inclusion Forum, 2026
This year’s LIN Forum featured a particularly exciting lineup of speakers on a timely and important topic.
On 9th July 2026, more than 120 participants joined our Forum to discuss Disability Inclusive Reconstruction: How to Leave No One Behind?
In crisis situations, persons with disabilities are disproportionately impacted and face a high risk of negative effects. However, reconstruction efforts still frequently overlook persons with disabilities, both disregarding their needs and their valuable contributions.
The Living Inclusion Network, therefore, wanted to exchange experiences across the physical, economic, and social aspects of reconstruction efforts and to share lessons learned, good practices, and innovative approaches.
Screenshot of participants during the Living Inclusion Forum | © 2026 GIZ
Dr Katharina Spiess, Head of the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development’s (BMZ) Division Crisis Management, Reconstruction, Transitional Development Assistance, set the scene for the event, reiterating that reconstruction efforts offer a crucial opportunity for inclusion, as decisions taken in this phase shape societies for decades. “Accessible infrastructure, inclusive livelihood programmes and participatory planning tend to generate more resilient and durable outcomes for the whole community – not only for persons with disabilities.” She reminded us of the Global Disability Summit in Berlin and the resulting Declaration, highlighting examples of Germany’s support for reconstruction efforts.
Dr Tetiana Lomakina, Advisor – Presidential Commissioner for Barrier-Free Environment in Ukraine, followed with a keynote input where she explained about the six pillars of Ukraine’s National Strategy for Creating a Barrier-free Environment and emphasised the role of evidence and good governance in inclusive reconstruction: “Nothing about us without us had to become more than a slogan, it has to be a principle of governance”. She also emphasised the importance of partnerships and highlighted individuals (termed “Inclusion Ambassadors” of inclusion in Ukraine) who are motivated and therefore contribute to making a change for persons with disabilities in various sectors of society. She emphatically called for a holistic approach and stressed that “inclusive recovery is not only about rebuilding what has been destroyed, but it is also about changing the way we build the future.”
Three breakout rooms offered experiences and perspectives on various aspects of inclusive reconstruction:
Julia Schönborn and Mariia Levchenko from Christian Blind Mission (CBM) presented an overview of the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities and veterans in Ukraine. Their input covered Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) services for deaf and hard of hearing People, inclusive Vocational Education and Training (VET) for veterans, and inclusive health, rehabilitation and protection services. They stated that while rebuilding infrastructure and the economy get the budget and make it to the headlines, restoring society is often neglected, but no less relevant. “Peaceful coexistence starts with inclusion: when barriers are removed, trust grows, participation increases, and communities become stronger.”
Kifah Bani Odeh and Kefah Abu-Ghoush from Stars of Hope (SHS) Society talked about inclusive economic reconstruction in the Palestinian territories and how their empowerment pathway for women with disabilities applies in a conflict and reconstruction setting. They emphasised the need to link protection and livelihoods, to include women with disabilities in the planning process from the very beginning, and to allow flexibility in funding to react to changing circumstances in a volatile context.
Ellyjoy Kithure and Amy Dwyer from Conciliation Resources (CR) shared key learnings around women with disabilities’ input to CR’s practice paper on intersectionality, published earlier this year, titled “A peace for all women: Lessons from peacebuilders”, drawing from experiences of CSOs working in conflict and peace-building contexts. They emphasised the importance of an intersectional approach to peacebuilding, one that gives greater prominence to the voices and experiences of grassroots women with regard to peaceful action. The crucial entry point is via accessibility considerations and removal of practical barriers to their inclusion. Where policymakers may be part of the backlash against women with and without disabilities as peacemakers, they suggest emphasising arguments on the benefit for all of society.
It was a great pleasure to welcome such distinguished experts and excellent speakers and meet a very active and engaging audience. As always, we would have loved to continue beyond the allotted time.
Further Resources
Please find all recordings from the event below:
Plenary (including sign language interpretation), including inputs from Dr Katharina Spiess and Dr Tetiana Lomakina
- Breakout room 1 with CBM on the “Social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities and veterans in Ukraine” (including sign language interpretation).
- Breakout room 2 with SHS Society on “Rebuilding Lives of Women with Disabilities in the Palestinian Territories”
- Breakout room 3 with CR on the “Lessons Learned on Intersectionality in Peacebuilding”
You can also download the accessible PowerPoint presentations from the event below:
- Breakout room 1 with CBM on the “Social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities and veterans in Ukraine”
- Breakout room 2 with SOH Society on the “Rebuilding Lives of Women with Disabilities in the Palestinian Territories”
- Breakout room 3 with CR on the “Lessons Learned on Intersectionality in Peacebuilding”