The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) Release Policy Brief and Report on Disability-Inclusive Disaster Risk Management

June 2018 – Members from the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) group and the Disability and Development team of the World Bank have been working together to create a more inclusive Disaster Risk Management (DRM) action plan, with a focus on the “engagement and empowerment of persons with disabilities.” People with disabilities are not a homogenous group, and with an estimated one billion people worldwide living with one or more disabilities, the need for a comprehensive, inclusive DRM is great. 

 

The results of this collaboration include a report and policy brief which detail five key actions for governments, their partners, and stakeholders. These key actions, verbatim, are:  

 

1. Include persons with disabilities as valued stakeholders in disaster risk management activities.

2. Help remove barriers to the full participation of persons with disabilities.

3. Increase awareness among governments and their partners of the safety and security needs of persons with disabilities.

4. Collect data that is disaggregated by disability.

5. Ensure that new construction, rehabilitation, and reconstruction are accessible to persons with disabilities.

 

These reports add to the growing list of literature on disability inclusive DRM, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the World Humanitarian Summit, Paris Climate Change Agreement, and Habitat III and the New Urban Agenda. The report identifies that in addition to physical accessibility barriers in many countries, there are also communication barriers. According to the report, more work will be needed to “to ensure locally appropriate standards are developed and implemented, as well as international organizations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) with expertise on accessibility standards.” These include warning systems that do not reach all citizens in a timely manner or are presented in formats that are not accessible (e.g., only audible methods, lack of a text-crawl in emergency televised communications). 

 

GFDRR and the World Bank will continue their work “to ensure that disability-inclusive DRM considers the needs of the vulnerable in not only planning of the built environment, but to also consider their needs first in the occurrence of a natural disaster or other need for evacuation.”

 

For more information and for links to the report and policy brief, please go to: http://globalaccessibilitynews.com/2018/06/07/now-available-gfdrr-publications-on-disability-inclusive-drm/

 

Sources: Global Accessibility News; Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery.