Persons with disabilities unique resource in disaster risk reduction

Persons with disabilities are a unique resource of knowledge and experience, which is often overlooked in disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts. The UN works to ensure the active participation of persons with disabilities in all steps of the DRR process that is essential to help reduce the risk of disasters and build resilient societies and communities.

As such, the forthcoming World Conference on DRR is aimed to be accessible and inclusive for persons with disabilities, making it an important conference in capturing the rights of persons with disabilities.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the Nippon Foundation today signed an agreement that will make the 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) accessible and inclusive for persons with disabilities.

The agreement will provide real-time captioning in English and Japanese and international or Japanese sign language interpretation for various sessions of the conference. Accessibility will be prioritized for conference venues, transport and accommodation.

Gordon Rattray, Emergency Communications Coordinator for CBM which works to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities in some of the poorest communities in the world, welcomed the agreement.

Mr. Rattray said: “The knowledge and experience of people with disabilities is invaluable to the building of the resilience of communities as a whole. We have played a strong role in developing the revised Hyogo Framework for Action and thanks to these measures announced we look forward to being fully involved at the World Conference.”

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Source & Copyright: UNISDR