Keynote Speech

Dr. Bhichit Rattakul, Executive Director

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center

2nd International Conference on Disaster Preparedness for Persons with Disabilities

Tuesday 12 May 2009

Disaster Risk Management for Persons with Disabilities

Distinguish guests, fellow participants, ladies and gentlemen

Good Morning.

It is a great pleasure for me to stand in front of you this morning and welcome you to the 2nd International Conference on Disaster Preparedness for Persons with Disabilities. I would like to thank the organizers of this event to give me this opportunity to share some of my experience in disaster management for persons with disabilities. Disasters can happen anytime, anywhere, and sometimes without warning, volunteers and your local government agencies will respond when a disaster threatens and after a disaster strikes. However, they can't be everywhere at once. Being ready for a disaster is a part of maintaining ones independence. Although you may not know when a disaster will strike, if you are prepared ahead of time, you will be better able to cope with the disaster and recover from it more quickly.

When a disaster occurs, the first priority of disaster relief organizations and government agencies is to provide basic needs-food, water, and safe shelter-to everyone who needs them. But given there are other special needs of persons with disabilities such as replacing medications, replacing adaptive equipment, restoring electricity for power-dependent equipment, and restoring your regular ways of support for daily living activities may not happen right away.

It is important for everyone to be prepared to meet his or her own basic needs by storing food and water for a minimum of three days or more. You should also be ready to meet your specific disability related needs by storing sufficient oxygen, medications, battery power, etc., for at least seven days after a disaster.

Knowing about disaster threats and their aftermath and being prepared are critical for staying self-sufficient after a disaster. This is especially true for people with disabilities. The best way to cope with a disaster is to learn about the challenges you might face if you could not use your home, office, and personal belongings. You can meet your basic personal needs by preparing beforehand. You also may have to deal with a service animal that is unable to work or is frightened, or pets that need care and assistance. For any disaster management policy, we should provide full accessibility and prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in all aspects of disaster risk management which includes mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Actions will have to be taken at the community level to ensure any disaster management policies are effective. People responsible for warning protocols, evacuation and emergency operation plans, shelter identification and operations, emergency medical care facilities and operations, health, and other emergency response and recovery programs must do the following:

1. 　be familiar with the demographics of the population of people with disabilities who live in their community;
2. 　involve people with different types of disabilities in identifying the communication and transportation needs, accommodations, support systems, equipment, services, and supplies that residents and visitors with disabilities will need during an emergency; and
3. 　identify existing and develop new resources within the community that meet the needs of residents and visitors with disabilities during emergencies.

We must adhere to the Non Discrimination Principles when it comes to Emergency Management for Persons with Disabilities. We should require equal access for, and prohibit discrimination against, people with disabilities in all aspects of risk reduction, emergency planning, response, and recovery. Following are key nondiscrimination concepts applicable in disaster preparedness and examples of how these concepts apply to all phases of emergency management.

1. 　Self-Determination - People with disabilities are the most knowledgeable about their own needs.
2. Whenever choices are available, people with disabilities have the right to choose their shelter location, what type of services they require, and who will provide them.
3. 　No "One Size Fits All" - People with disabilities do not all require the same assistance and do not all have the same needs. Many different types of disabilities affect people in different ways. Preparations should be made for individuals with a variety of functional needs, including individuals who use mobility aids, require medication or portable medical equipment, use service animals, need information in alternate formats, or rely on a care giver.Emergency recovery services and programs should be designed to provide equivalent choices for people with disabilities as they do for individuals without disabilities. This includes choices relating to short-term housing or other short- and long-term disaster support services.
4. 　Equal Opportunity - People with disabilities must have the same opportunities to benefit from emergency programs, services, and activities as people without disabilities.
5. 　Inclusion - People with disabilities have the right to participate in and receive the benefits of emergency programs, services, and activities provided by governments, private businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Inclusion of people with various types of disabilities in planning, training, and evaluation of programs and services will ensure that this population is given appropriate consideration during emergencies.
6. 　Integration - Emergency programs, services, and activities typically must be provided in an integrated setting. The provision of services such as sheltering, information intake for disaster services, and short-term housing in integrated settings keeps individuals connected to their support system and caregivers and avoids the need for disparate service facilities.
7. 　Physical Access - Emergency programs, services, and activities must be provided at locations that all people can access, including people with disabilities. People with disabilities should be able to enter and use emergency facilities and access the programs, services, and activities that are provided. Facilities typically required to be accessible include: parking, drop-off areas, entrances and exits, security screening areas, toilet rooms, bathing facilities, sleeping areas, dining facilities, areas where medical care or human services are provided, and paths of travel to and between these areas.
8. 　Equal Access - People with disabilities must be able to access and benefit from emergency programs, services, and activities equal to the general population. Equal access applies to emergency preparedness, notification of emergencies, evacuation, transportation, communication, shelter, distribution of supplies, food, first aid, medical care, housing, and application for and distribution of benefits.
9. 　Effective Communication -People with disabilities must be given information comparable in content and detail to that given to the general public, as well as accessible, understandable, and timely. Auxiliary aids and services may be needed to ensure effective communication. These may include pen and paper or sign language interpreters through on-site or video interpreting for individuals who are deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing or have speech impairments. Individuals who are blind, deaf-blind, have low vision, or have cognitive disabilities may need large print information or people to assist with reading and filling out forms.
10. 　Program Modifications - People with disabilities must have equal access to emergency programs and services, which may entail modifications to rules, policies, practices, and procedures. Service staff may need to change the way questions are asked, provide reader assistance to complete forms, or provide assistance in a more accessible location.
11. 　No Charge - People with disabilities may not be charged to cover the costs of measures necessary to ensure equal access and nondiscriminatory treatment. Examples of accommodations provided without charge to the individual may include ramps, cots modified to address disability-related needs, a visual alarm, grab bars, additional storage space for medical equipment, lowered counters or shelves, Braille and raised letter signage, a sign language interpreter, a message board, assistance in completing forms, or documents in Braille, large print, or audio recording.

For those of you not already familiar with ADPC let me provide you with a brief background of our centre and our mission. ADPC was founded in 1986 under the initiative of 3 UN organizations, namely UNOCHA, UNDP and the WMO. ADPC is the longest serving comprehensive regional resource centre for disaster management in the world. We aim to strengthen capacities and policies in disaster mitigation and preparedness from the national to the community levels. Currently ADPC is offering over 20 regional courses on disaster management.

With over 22 year experiences, the centre has been working in collaboration with our partners to implement our shared vision of creating safer communities and sustainable development through disaster risk reduction. ADPC is working closely with wide range of development partners, UN agencies, international and local NGOs, and government ministries including regional platforms such as UNISDR, ASEAN, SAARC and SOPAC

ADPC is serving as the secretariat to the Regional Consultative Committee (RCC) mechanism that brings together National Disaster Management Organizations, international NGOs, development cooperation partners, UN agencies to discuss priority issues on disaster risk management in Asia. ADPC also established a regional end-to-end multi hazard early warning system (EWS) providing services to 27 countries along the Indian Ocean region.

Our Center is leading the implementation of programs such as the Urban Disaster Risk Management, Climate Forecasting Application, Public Health in Emergencies, and Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management into development. ADPC is also involved in other man made disasters such as land mine awareness in the border area between Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. ADPC is an important neutral voice promoting disaster awareness.

Our mission is to reduce the impact of disasters made on communities and countries in Asia and the Pacific by raising awareness and enhancing knowledge and skills, strengthening sustainable institutional mechanisms, and facilitating exchange of information, experience and expertise. ADPC adopts a comprehensive approach to disaster risk management looking at hazard prevention and mitigation, vulnerability reduction, emergency preparedness, response and recovery.

Our staff presently consists of more than 100 professionals from over 18 countries.

Once again, I would like to thank Thailand Association of the Blind, Daisy Consortium, Assistive Technology Development Organization and other Co-Hosting organizations for inviting me to this event. I would like to thank all participants and resource persons for your interest and attention and I want to wish everyone a productive and successful conference.

Thank you.