On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) has said that persons with disabilities can be the most affected and the most forgotten in disaster situations.
The centre also asserted the need to have more disability-inclusive approaches to internal displacement.
In a report, the IDMC indicated that during the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, it was found that people with physical, mental, or intellectual disabilities were twice as likely to die in the earthquake than the general population.
As for people with disabilities who managed to reach evacuation centres, inaccessible facilities and a lack of information and medication meant their needs were often unmet. Some had no choice but to abandon the centres and seek assistance elsewhere.
Nearly a decade after the disaster, there have been signs of progress – but only up to a point. In displacement settings across the globe, the needs of people with disabilities are still largely overlooked, often with severe consequences, the report said.
Around 1 billion people, or 15% of the world’s population, are estimated to be living with a disability, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). However, figures on the number of people with disabilities living in internal displacement because of disasters are widely lacking.
The IDMC estimated that 5.1 million people were still displaced due to disasters at the end of 2019, but this figure is considered to be highly conservative. The limited data collected following disasters, and the scarcity of data disaggregated by disability-status, makes it difficult to confirm how many internally displaced people are living with disabilities and where they are located.
The IDMC identified that the main challenge people with disabilities face in displacement is because they are too often excluded from early-warning systems and evacuation processes. Put together, these challenges in accessing such facilities may prevent them from fleeing a disaster in a safe and timely manner.
In a study on Tropical Cyclone Pam, which hit Vanuatu in 2015, 60% of people with disabilities reported a lack of safety information on what to do in an emergency before the cyclone, compared to 47% of people without, the IDMC added.
People with disabilities also face a greater risk of being separated from their usual carers and assistive devices while fleeing. This could exacerbate their vulnerabilities during displacement, the report noted.
In order to foster more disability-inclusive approaches to internal displacement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 calls for a disability perspective to be integrated into disaster management, using tools and guidance.
The IDMC confirmed that better data on internally displaced people with disabilities is essential, to address the problem and assess the inclusivity of responses.
The impacts of climate change and people’s growing exposure and vulnerability to hazards are expected to increase the risk of displacement due to slow- and sudden-onset disasters in the years to come, the IDMC explained. Now is the time to act to ensure that those who may be most affected are no longer the most forgotten.
