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Preface

 

It has been four years since the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred.

The disaster caused tremendous damage on account of the earthquake, tsunami, nuclear accident, etc., and there are reports that the number of victims and missing persons has surpassed 18,000, which does not include related deaths. Many of our friends with disabilities were also impacted by the disaster, and according to surveys by local governments and the media, the mortality rate of persons with disabilities was approximately twice that of the general victim population.

In certain areas, such as coastal areas hit by the tsunami, even the ability of local governments to function was impacted, and under those conditions, many non-governmental organizations naturally played a major role in providing support to people affected by the earthquake and helping rebuild the local communities. This is also true in the field of disability. While of course, we at the Japan Disability Forum (JDF) and its member organizations have worked on multiple aspects of the response, so have various other organizations, including disability organizations, support organizations, and professional organizations, and these activities have continuously been undertaken since immediately after the earthquake until now. The path to recovery will be a long one, and it is expected that the difficulties faced by those impacted by the disaster and our support work will continue for years to come.

This report is a compilation of activity reports and proposals made by JDF and other non-governmental Japanese organizations of and for people with disabilities and related organizations as of 2013, two years after the earthquake. Although it is only a summary at an interim stage, it includes what needs to be recorded so that we do not forget our experiences related to the disaster. The report does not cover all the disability-related efforts in Japan; it was created to broadly communicate some of the diverse range of activities that organizations have undertaken on their own or in cooperation with others in their particular field.

It has been decided to release an English version of the report on the occasion of the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Sendai in March, 2015. We would like to express our deep appreciation to The Nippon Foundation, which supported the release of this report.