Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Division for Social Policy and Development // United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Inclusion Saves lives: Disability-Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction
Background Note
This note has been prepared with a view to provide a background overview of the work of the UN on disability and development issues. It highlights the importance of including disability into the post-2015 framework on disaster risk reduction, as part of the wider post-2015 development framework.
Background
During the past decade, the world has witnessed an increase in the number of major disasters, including the Asian tsunami in 2004, the Haitian earthquake in 2010, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, and the 2012 Hurricane Sandy in the United States.
Different populations, when exposed to similar risks of environmental and man-made disasters, are affected in different ways, as determined by a number of factors. These factors including poverty, social status, geographical location and access to mitigation and relief resources, among others, influence the impact of disasters on an individual basis.
Globally, over 1 billion people or 15 percent of the world’s population live with some form of disability.[1] Available data indicates that persons with disabilities experience disproportionately high rates of poverty and face exclusion and lack of equitable access to resources such as education, employment, health care and legal and support systems.[2]
Similarly, persons with disabilities, compared to the general population, face higher risks and are disproportionately affected by disasters. Available data reveals that the mortality rate of the disabled population is two to four times higher than that of the non-disabled population in many disaster situations.[3]
The Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (3WCDRR) will take place from 14 to 18 March 2015 in Sendai, Japan. An agreement on a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction will be adopted at the 3WCDRR. This framework will guide and support international efforts to build nations and communities that are resilient to disasters.
Based on the first Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA), the international community is moving forward with the post-2015 International Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (HFA2) and further addressing the situation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of disaster risk reduction efforts, enabling their participation and contribution, as such inclusion can saves lives.
Disability and development at the United Nations
The commitment of the international community to promote the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of society and development is deeply rooted in the goals of the United Nations Charter: promotion of economic and social progress and universal human rights for all, reaffirming the dignity and worth of the human person and the promotion of better standards of life in larger freedom. [4]
At the United Nations, the international policy discourse seeks to advance the “full participation and equality” of persons with disabilities. In the course of the three decades the General Assembly adopted the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons (1982), the Standard Rules on Equalization of Opportunities for Disabled Persons (1993) and, most recently, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, 2006).[5] The international community has further advanced inclusive development frameworks through adoption of global development frameworks, such as through the MDGs and other internationally agreed development goals
The international normative framework on disability and development consisting of human rights and development instruments, provides a legal and comprehensive guidance for policy-making, legislation and programme development, including in the area of international cooperation, for inclusive development.
Mainstreaming disability in the post-2015 development agenda
In spite of advances in the international normative framework on disability, a gap between policy and practice continues to exist. All too often, disability and persons with disabilities remain invisible in society and development. For example, persons with disabilities were not included in many mainstream development frameworks, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the first Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 (HFA I).
The invisibility of disability in development efforts affects not only persons with disabilities and their families, but also adversely impacts on the achievement of internationally agreed development goals (IADG).
The General Assembly has reiterated that it is impossible to genuinely achieve internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), without incorporating the rights, well-being and perspective of persons with disabilities in development efforts at all levels.
Indeed, including disability in the emerging post-2015 global development agenda is an urgent priority of the international community. The General Assembly has, over the last three years, repeatedly called for action for the realization of the MDGS and other internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities.[6]
The international community has before it a critical opportunity to ensure the inclusion of disability in the 3WCDRR and in the post 2015 development agenda to be adopted in 2015. At the High-level meeting of the General Assembly on disability and development (HLMDD), Member States affirmed their commitments to inclusion of persons with disabilities in post-2015 development frameworks, including in Disaster Risk Reduction. The Outcome Document of the HLMDD specifically urges Member States to take actions “to continue to strengthen the inclusion of and focus on the needs of persons with disabilities in humanitarian programming and response, and include accessibility and rehabilitation as essential components in all aspects and stages of humanitarian response, inter alia, by strengthening preparedness and disaster risk reduction.”[7]
Moreover, the outcome documents of Regional and Global Platforms on disaster risk reduction - the Incheon Strategy “To Make the Right Real[8]” and the Sendai statement[9] to promote disability inclusive disaster risk reduction - have all recognized persons with disabilities as important stakeholders who meaningfully participate in enhancing community resilience and reducing risks.
Ongoing preparatory processes that warrant the inclusion of disability-inclusive DRR (DIDRR) are the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the outcome of 3WCDRR, both part of the post-2015 development agenda.
Disability and the ongoing process related to the WCDRR
The Disability Caucus is a group of organizations and their partners, including Member States, UN system organizations and organizations of persons with disabilities (DPOs), that work together to ensure that the planning process and the implementation of the post-2015 DRR framework are inclusive of persons with disabilities, their experiences and perspectives at all levels and in each different sector. Furthermore, the Disability Caucus can share their experiences as a model for participation of persons with disabilities in tackling global issues through a UN multi-stakeholders approach.
Following the First Preparatory Committee Meeting of the WCDRR in October 2014, a Zero-draft was submitted by the Co-Chairs of the Committee. The draft includes a call for a disability perspective to be integrated into disaster risk reduction, and of the strengthening of social mechanisms to assist persons with disabilities during such times. In line with the CRPD and the Outcome Document of the HLMDD, the zero-draft also notes that persons with disabilities are critical in the design and implementation of disaster plans, and that for this to take place, an adoption of universal design is most sustainable.
The second Preparatory Committee meeting in November 2014 is designed to further develop a draft post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction, in preparation for the 3WCDRR, to be held in March next year. For an agenda which is inclusive of all, it is key that the situation of the one billion persons with disabilities[10] is fully addressed, included and integrated in the outcome of the 3WCDRR and the post-2015 development framework.
2
[1] World Health Organization and World Bank, World Report on Disability (Geneva, 2011). Estimate based on 2010 population.
[2] Disability and the Millennium Development Goals (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.11.IV.10). Available from http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/review_of_disability_and_the_mdgs.pdf.
[3] Rehabilitation International (RI), the Nippon Foundation and UNESCAP, “Sendai Statement to Promote Disability-inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilient, Inclusive and equitable Societies in Asia and the Pacific” (24 April 2014). Available at http://www.riglobal.org/sendai-statement-to-promote-disability-inclusive-disaster-risk-reduction-for-resilient-inclusive-and-equitable-societies-in-asia-and-the-pacific/
[4] United Nations, Charter of the United Nations, 24 October 1945,1 UNTS XVI
[5] As of 28 January 2013, there are 127 Parties (112 ratifications, 14 accessions and 1 formal confirmation) and 155 signatories to the CRPD. There are 76 Parties (57 ratifications and 19 accessions) and 91 signatories to the Optional Protocol to the CRPD. See http://treaties.un.org/Pages/Treaties.aspx?id=4&subid=A&lang=en
[6] See resolutions 63/150, 64/131 and 65/186. See also ECOSOC resolution “Mainstreaming disability in the development agenda” (resolution 2010/13); the Secretary-General’s report “Keeping the Promises: Realizing the MDGs for Persons with Disabilities towards 2015 and beyond” (A/65/173) which highlighted mainstreaming disability in development as the missing link in the development agenda.
[7] RES/A/68/3
[8] Available from: http://www.unescap.org/resources/incheon-strategy-%E2%80%9Cmake-right-real%E2%80%9D-persons-disabilities-asia-and-pacific
[9] “Sendai Statement to Promote Disability-inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilient, Inclusive and equitable Societies in Asia and the Pacific” (24 April 2014). Available at http://www.riglobal.org/sendai-statement-to-promote-disability-inclusive-disaster-risk-reduction-for-resilient-inclusive-and-equitable-societies-in-asia-and-the-pacific/
[10] World Health Organization and World Bank, World Report on Disability (Geneva, 2011). Estimate based on 2010 population.