EU gears up for disability inclusive #WCDRR

By Biljana Markova

Riga –
 The new Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is pressing ahead with plans to strengthen measures across the 28 EU Member States to include persons with disabilities in disaster risk management activities. The Latvian government aims to bring new proposals on inclusion to the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (#WCDRR) in Sendai, Japan, 14-18 March, 2015 www.wcdrr.org. The EU lead on disability was demonstrated this week when the Latvian Ministry of Interior played host for two days to a gathering of over 100 experts on disability from around the world including representatives from the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and UNISDR.



An estimated 15% of the world’s population live with some form of disability, yet they are among the most vulnerable and neglected in any type of emergency.

A UNISDR global survey found that people living with disabilities across the world say they are rarely consulted about their needs and only 20% could evacuate immediately without difficulty in the event of a sudden disaster event. The new European Council Conclusions on disability and disaster risk will represent a major step forward and create opportunities for follow-up activities from the European Commission that could include financing, specific research and fostering new technologies in the field. The announcement was made by the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Interior of Latvia, Ms. Evika Silina, who told this week’s meeting in Riga: “In a world of a changing climate and increased natural and manmade hazards, investment in disaster risk management is critical. I hope that our discussions this week will provide further guidance to the EU on the topic in regards to persons with disabilities.” Member of the European Parliament from Belgium, Helga Stevens, highlighted that the topic of disaster risk reduction and persons with disabilities will be a top priority of the European Parliament disability group, and that the outcomes of the week’s discussion on the disaster risk management cycle would feed into the work on persons with disabilities and disaster risk management at the Parliament. Mr. Uldis Augulis, Minister of Welfare of Latvia, said the issue will also be on the agenda at the 5th European Civil Protection Forum taking place on 6 and 7 May 2015, which will be organized in collaboration with the European Commission. Ms. Paola Albrito, Head of the UNISDR Regional Office for Europe, said: “It is a great pleasure to see Latvia’s strong engagement on the topic of persons with disabilities and disaster risk reduction and their commitment to EU involvement towards ensuring the inclusion of persons with disabilities in DRR planning and implementation. This important event in Riga represents a strong contribution to the Sendai Conference discussions and outcomes.” The Latvian government event this week focussed on how the needs of persons with disabilities are to be included in the disaster risk management cycle and what is the role of technologies and innovative solutions to maximize this. The event provided worldwide knowledge, views and lessons learnt from experts on persons with disabilities and disaster risk managers to support the Latvian EU presidency in shaping up the agreement between the 28 EU Member States on its proposed Council Conclusions on needs of persons with disabilities throughout the disaster risk management cycle, in time to be presented at UN World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction in March.

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