More must be done to ensure the needs and rights of people with disabilities are fully recognised in disaster risk reduction and emergency responses. Accelerating progress will require inclusive humanitarian programming and the use of technological solutions to be effectively promoted and incentivised, and people with disabilities and their organisations to be involved from the outset in the design and implementation of policies and programmes.
This Rapid Response briefing argues that It is important to follow a twin-track approach, having both accessible mainstream responses as well as dedicated responses for specific needs. Donors could also make the inclusion of people with disabilities a mandatory component of response funding or earmark funding for disability. More work is also required to make field staff in humanitarian responses aware of disabled people’s needs and of the resources available for them. As crises have demonstrated, people with disabilities and disabilities’ organisations are still rarely involved in designing, implementing and evaluating emergency responses.
Even if they are included, the response may be planned in such a way that makes it difficult for many affected people to participate.Recommendations – to ensure inclusive emergency relief efforts that fully recognise the rights and needs of all people with disabilities the following measures need to be taken:develop an agreed set of meaningful indicators for identifying needs and capacities of people with different types of disabilities to ensure they are included in responses establish incentives and funding mechanisms that incentivise inclusive humanitarian programming design and offer essential training packages that include tools to develop awareness, skills and competencies on disability inclusion for humanitarian practitioners, policymakers and donors, and that can be adapted for different contexts and scenarios support the involvement of DPOs and the development of accessible technology to facilitate the inclusion of disability issues across the humanitarian cycle, including in long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation advocate for the inclusion of indicators to promote the rights and needs of all people with disabilities across the new Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.