Barriers to Social Service Access for Ukrainian Refugees with Disabilities in Georgia: Outreach and Communication

3. Point-by-point response to Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Comments 1: [. About Title (1-4).

Title of the article: “Barriers to Access of Ukrainian Refugees with Disabilities to Social Services in Georgia: The Role of Communication Strategies.”

There is a question about the title of the research. Every stakeholder has its own communication strategy in assisting refugees. Is it appropriate to talk about the “role of communication strategies” when we are talking about many different subjects of assistance? This is my opinion, but may be the author/s will use “problems of communications” in the title of the article instead of “role of communication strategies"…

]

Response 1:

Thank you for pointing this out. We agree with this comment. Therefore we changed the title:

BARRIERS TO SOCIAL SERVICE ACCESS FOR UKRAINIAN REFUGEES WITH DISABILITIES IN GEORGIA: OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATION

Comments 2: [The paper aims to describe the barriers to access to social services for persons with disabilities among Ukrainian refugees (5). The paper aims to describe the barriers to access to social services for persons with disabilities among Ukrainian refugees. May be will be change “aims to describe” (5) to “aims to structure" or else…, because describing is a process and isn't a goal.

.]

Response 2:

Thank you for pointing this out. We agree with this comment. Please see this version.

This paper aims to identify the barriers to accessing social services for persons with disabilities among Ukrainian refugees and to examine how stakeholders can reach them through communication channels. The article analyzes the challenges faced by disabled Ukrainian refugees in Georgia. To address this objective, we employed a mixed-methods approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods. We surveyed 114 Ukrainian refugees with disabilities, aged 18 to 60+ (N=114), residing in Georgia, and conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 experts from civil society organizations assisting Ukrainian refugees, as well as 6 caregivers with diverse roles (e.g., mother, daughter, husband). The findings reveal significant difficulties faced by Ukrainian refugees with disabilities in accessing essential services such as healthcare, employment, psychological counseling, rehabilitation, early intervention services, legal aid, and information. The primary strategies employed by stakeholders providing humanitarian aid include individualized approaches and communication. However, while many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) assist Ukrainian refugees, there are currently no NGOs specifically focused on supporting children and adults with disabilities among this population.

Comments 2: [About typology of non-governmental organizations (370-388)

The proposed study identifies the main types of stakeholders (government and non-government) who provide humanitarian assistance and support.

Nongovernmental organizations are structured into four groups:
(1) Religious-based groups

(2) People’s Organizations (POs) / grassroots volunteer organizations

(3) Community-Based Organizations (CBOs)

(4) Among operational CSOs, international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), usually headquartered in developed countries, and national-level NGOs, whose attention is directed toward issues and interests in the countries in which they are based (INkuLtur, World Vision, UNFPA, PIN (People in Need), Save the Children, Care Caucasus, UNHCR).

It needs clarification whether UNFPA should be included in group (4) of non-governmental (387-388), since UNFPA is a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly, reports to the UNDP/UNFPA Executive Board of UN Member States and receives overall policy guidance from the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

And also, UNHCR, because UNHCR is the UN Refugee Agency, is a global inter-governmental organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people. In our opinion, it is better to add another type to the main types of stakeholders: government, non-government and global inter-government organizations..]

Response 3:

Thank you for pointing this out. We agree with this comment. Therefore we offering a new version:

A critical aspect of this discussion is the clarification of the roles played by various organizations. Of particular importance is the role of organizations under the UN umbrella, specifically UNFPA and UNHCR, which were included in our study. These organizations adopt a perspective aligned with, rather than distinct from, the established typology of stakeholders.

The typology identifies three primary categories of stakeholders. The first category consists of government organizations, including ministries such as Health, Education, and Social Services in Georgia. The second category encompasses non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which operate independently of government control. The third category includes global intergovernmental organizations (GIGOs), which function across multiple categories by integrating elements of governmental, non-governmental, and intergovernmental frameworks.

Notably, UNFPA operates as a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly. It reports to the UNDP/UNFPA Executive Board, which comprises UN Member States, and receives overarching policy guidance from the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

3. Point-by-point response to Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Comments 1: [.

The paper, as it stands, lacks coherence and is poorly structured with evidence of typological and other minor errors. Additionally, the introductory section seems limited as it doesn't adequately engage with existing scholarship around migration and disability (e.g. Soldatic; Pisani & Grech; Burns; Duda-Mikulin). This is while the results section reads like a list without appropriate analysis. Also, some quotations are very difficult to follow and understand as the (assumed) translation is of poor quality. I'm sorry that this review isn't more positive but I struggle to see the overall merit in its present form.

]

Response 1:

Thank you for your detailed feedback on our paper. We have taken your comments seriously and made significant revisions to address the issues raised. Specifically, we have substantially improved the introductory section by engaging more thoroughly with the existing scholarship on migration and disability, including works by Soldatic, Pisani & Grech, Burns, and Duda-Mikulin, as suggested. We have also enhanced the results section by moving beyond a list format to provide a more robust and nuanced analysis of the findings.

Regarding the respondent quotations, we have carefully translated them to preserve their cultural context while ensuring clarity for an academic audience. Additionally, we have thoroughly reviewed the language using tools such as Grammarly, achieving a high score (99) to confirm that the text meets professional grammar and linguistic standards. We hope that these revisions address your concerns and improve the overall coherence, structure, and scholarly merit of the paper.

Response to Reviewer #1 Comments

1. Summary

Thank you very much for your additional suggestions. We agreed with you and corrected the paper.

Comment: Line 96: remove 'totally' as it is too common and unsuited in academic texts

Answer: It is removed.

Comment2  : 277: when 'describing' or add 'we'

Answer:

Yes it is rephrased:

As we mentioned when we described our methodology, we were based on the social model of disability. "It is also important to emphasize, however, that different types of disabilities may require somewhat different responses to addressing accessibility issues, and this should be kept in mind when considering models of disability. There are different models of disability.

Comment 3: 625-626: unclear sentence

Answer:

Yes it is rephrased:

Respondents were asked how humanitarian agencies can incorporate and prioritize humanitarian principles when addressing the needs of Ukrainian refugees with disabilities.

Comment 4: 627-628: remove sentence as it adds nothing to the discussion

It is reframed:

Respondents were asked how humanitarian agencies can incorporate and prioritize humanitarian principles when addressing the needs of Ukrainian refugees with disabilities. The Most frequents answers were: "Providing specialized medical services and rehabilitation." (80,7 %) and "Consideration of the individual needs and opportunities of every person with disabilities" (31,6%).