United Kingdom

Our purpose at HI UK is to bring tangible improvements to the living conditions of people with disabilities and vulnerable populations by supporting HI’s mission and programmes worldwide.

In 2025, we aimed to achieve this by raising funds, influencing policy and practice, and providing high-quality technical expertise to our country programmes. This was underpinned by a strong focus on building a diverse, motivated and connected staff team with effective support functions and a strong, supportive and ambitious culture. 

This page explains how we achieved these goals in 2025, in each of our areas of activity, and shares some of our highlights for the year.

Supporting HI's programmes

In 2025, with the generous support of the UK public and institutional donors, HI UK supported 25 countries and several global programmes. The projects supported cover a wide range of HI’s activities, including emergency aid, demining, rehabilitation, and inclusive education.

> Read more about our UK finances and annual accounts

Emergency response

2025 saw no let-up in the number of emergencies to which our teams had to respond.

Sudan and Chad

Since 2023, brutal conflict in Sudan has forced more than 14 million people from their homes - roughly 28% of the population. Famine was declared in several areas in 2025, and nearly 28 million people faced food insecurity, with people with disabilities among the hardest hit. We opened an operational base in Western Darfur, distributing hygiene kits and cash-for-food assistance to families with malnourished children, and continued rehabilitation and psychological support for Sudanese people with injuries and disabilities in Chad.

Gaza

By the end of 2025, more than 70,500 people had been killed in Gaza and over 170,000 injured, with nearly 90% of the population displaced and over 90% facing severe food insecurity. Hospitals, water networks and housing have been massively damaged, severely limiting access to healthcare. Despite these constraints, our team continued providing rehabilitation care, distributing mobility aids and other essential supplies, and delivering mental health support, while helping the UN and other actors navigate an extremely dangerous environment.

Myanmar

A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar in March, killing more than 5,000 people and injuring 10,000 more. In Amarapura, near Sagaing, 90% of buildings collapsed. We launched a rapid needs assessment and distributed emergency kits, crutches, wheelchairs and stretchers, expanding our team with physiotherapists and mental health specialists to reach 55,668 people, including 4,495 people with disabilities.

Ukraine

In Ukraine, our teams continued supporting disabled, older and isolated people near the front lines with winter supplies, physical rehabilitation and mental health sessions, and educated children on the dangers of landmines and unexploded weapons. We also ran a shared logistics service to help other organisations distribute medicines and relief items safely.

We were a charity partner of the 2024/5 Telegraph Christmas Appeal, which raised more than £107,000 for our Ukraine work, with a contribution from broadcaster and psychologist Dr Sian Williams.

Humanitarian Mine Action

In 2025, our UK-based Armed Violence Reduction specialists deployed to Gaza, Laos, Lebanon, Syria and Ukraine, and supported operations in Colombia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Mozambique, Senegal and Yemen. We continued trialling body-worn cameras and drone technology for safer disarmament, presented at the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty conference in Geneva, and joined the Fifth Review Conference in Cambodia.

Emergency rehabilitation

In 2025, HI UK provided technical leadership across rehabilitation programmes in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia/Somaliland. A landmark achievement was our WHO verification as an Emergency Medical Team Rehabilitation Specialised Care Team - the first organisation verified with standalone rehabilitation capacity - followed by our first deployment, to the Afghanistan earthquake response in September. We also gave remote support after the North Macedonia nightclub fire, ran a rehabilitation workshop in Haiti, and began mentoring the Norwegian Aid Committee through their own EMT verification process.

Inclusive education

HI UK leads HI's global inclusive education work. In 2025, our team supported around 42 projects in 25 countries, though aid cuts led to project closures in Rwanda, Jordan and Laos. New projects launched in Pakistan and Syria. We presented at the UKFIET conference in Oxford and finalised our UK aid-funded Disability Inclusive Development projects, alongside completing our Education in Emergencies Policy paper.

Disability inclusion

In 2025, our Centre of Expertise in Disability Inclusion (CEDI) continued providing technical support and training across HI, including in Ukraine, Syria, Latin America, Somalia/Somaliland and Uganda. We co-chair the Disability Reference Group, a global collective of 600+ members shaping humanitarian policy. In the UK, we met ministers and politicians to press for concrete action on disability inclusion, and urged the FCDO to 'leave no one behind' amid decisions on UK aid's future. 2025 also saw the closure of the FCDO-funded Disability in Development programme, which leaves behind a library of learning to inform future policy.

Shelter and non-food items

HI continued strengthening its global shelter response, supporting settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, earthquake response in Myanmar, and disaster response in Pakistan and Afghanistan. We also expanded typhoon-resilient shelter work in the Philippines and contributed to responses in Sudan and the Sahel. Globally, we acted as a technical focal point on Gender, Disability and Inclusion within the Global Shelter Cluster, advancing cash assistance approaches and new training packages to keep country teams ready to respond rapidly.

Raising funds

Humanity & Inclusion UK (HI UK) raises money from the general public, schools, community groups, corporates, trusts and institutional funders in the UK to support HI’s life-changing work worldwide. There are many ways to support our work, including making a donation, taking part in a fundraising event, or leaving a gift in your will.

HI UK is registered with the Fundraising Regulator, which sets and maintains the standards for charitable fundraising and aims to ensure that fundraising is respectful, open, honest and accountable to the public. It is also a member of the Institute of Fundraising and aims to adhere to best practice in fundraising.

Promoting disability inclusion at home

In order to make a difference around the world, we need strong foundations at home. As well as working hard to support programmes building action on inclusion around the world, we took steps to become a more disability-inclusive employer ourselves. We are pleased to have been awarded “Disability Confident Leader” status by the Department for Work and Pensions. This is the highest level of the scheme, awarded to organisations that take meaningful actions on recruiting, retaining and developing disabled people and who also promote disability inclusion with partners, peers and others with whom we interact.

> Read more about our UK staff and trustees

Humanity & Inclusion UK is positive about employing disabled people and is proud to be accredited as a Disability Confident Leader. Find out more about working with us.