the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for
Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of UNISDR
Opening Remarks at Asia-Pacific Meeting on Disability-inclusive DRR:
Changing Mindsets through Knowledge, in Sendai
To be delivered by UNISDR Yuki Matsuoka,
April 22 2014
Dear Excellency, ladies and gentlemen,
On behalf of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), I am pleased to send my message to this important conference, Asia-Pacific Meeting on Disability-inclusive DRR.
I would like to start with congratulating and thanking UNESCAP, Rehabilitation International, and the Nippon Foundation for organizing this important event, and creating opportunities to share the experiences from different countries and experts on this very pertinent issue.
The experience with the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11th March 2011 has highlighted the vulnerability of people living with disabilities in disaster situations. The mortality rate of persons living with disabilities was reported higher than that of the general population.
Persons living with disabilities are among the most excluded in society, and their plight is magnified when a disaster strikes, therefore it is essential that a collective effort be made to include persons with disabilities in DRR.
The representation of people living with disabilities at the two major UNISDR events, Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction 2013 and the Regional Platform in Asia region in 2012 called 5th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, corresponded to an increasing global commitment to, and drive for, disability inclusive disaster risk reduction.
In 2013, the International Day for Disaster Reduction focused on the issues facing people who live with disabilities, the majority of whom are not represented in disaster planning and decision making processes.
UNISDR carried out the first-ever global online survey of persons living with disabilities on how they cope with disasters. An estimated 15% of the world's population lives with some form of disability. Survey responses from 5,717 persons revealed that persons living with disabilities are rarely consulted about their needs in potential disaster situations. One significant finding in the survey is that 85.57% of the respondents from 137 countries state that they have not participated in community disaster management and risk reduction processes currently in place in their communities. They are rarely consulted about their needs though only 20% would be capable of evacuating immediately in the event of a sudden disaster event.
"Inclusive" is one of the key words being highlighted through these discussions. More often than not, the unique capability of these groups to help communities prepare for and respond to disasters is overlooked. Thus, an inclusive approach is necessary to make full use of these opportunities.
The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) is the global disaster risk reduction framework adopted at the 2nd World Conference on Disaster Reduction in 2005.
The Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in March 2015 will review the ten-year implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action and is expected to adopt a successor framework for disaster risk reduction which will complement and support a new universal agreement on climate change and the Post-2015 sustainable development goals.
Through the year 2014, regional platforms in each region will further accelerate the discussions towards WCDRR. Regional inputs will be brought to the two inter-governmental preparatory committees to be held in Geneva this year (July and November), leading up to WCDRR in March 2015.
Substantive discussions at these meetings are expected to provide input to the Post-2015 framework on disaster risk reduction, in particular the upcoming 6th Asia Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction to be held in June 2014 in Thailand, as the regional platform in Asia.
The point I would like to leave you with today is that actual vulnerability of any individual to disasters is the direct product of socio-economic conditions, civic and social empowerment, and access to mitigation and relief resources. Addressing this vulnerability through disability-inclusive DRR has the potential to dramatically reduce the mortality of people with disabilities in disasters.
I wish you the success and productive discussions in the meeting. Thank you very much.
End.