This scoping report provides insights on how strengthening the connection between disaster risk reduction (DRR) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) could reinforce efforts to enhance the protection of persons with disabilities in disaster risk situations.
“Most of the changes we need to make to be safe during a pandemic were already part of my day-to-day life. I realized how much wisdom, skill, and resourcefulness I had gained because of my disability long before the pandemic. As a disabled person, I already had the skills, the mindset, and the knowledge to survive this.
“I’m very wary about the rhetoric we’ve had in this country about welfare reform, and the narrative that disabled people don’t have lives worth living. We’ve seen these regressive ideas played out in the management of the pandemic.
These changes signal the end of most legislated COVID safeguards. Rules to enforce mask-wearing on public transport, vaccination for entry to public spaces, and isolation of close contacts have been dropped by state and territory governments in recent months.
But while race and income have been commonly used as factors in predicting climate change vulnerability, there is another specific form of risk that’s vital to recognize, too: that of disabled people.
Sometimes it meant “14 days without a shower”, Colin said. “I‘ve got no support, I’ve got nothing. I’ve got no way of cooking food, there is no fridge … [The] bathroom I can’t use,” he said.
Many have admitted the pandemic impacted their wellbeing and financial capabilities. Already present with disadvantages, people living with disability face even more restrictions during this period.
People with disability and their caregivers experienced profound impact and systemic neglect during and after the 2017 Northern Rivers floods, with many still unable to access stable housing, and at relatively high risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) six months later, finds a University of Sydney study.
Ms Cox says the world continues to collectively experience a global situation of risk, the pandemic continues, armed conflicts, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters continue to happen. ‘Despite these events, state parties and governments have so much more to do to ensure the protection and safety of disabled people.
“People have experienced a lot of fear, illness, isolation and neglect,” explained Dominic Golding, policy officer at National Ethnic Disability Alliance. “COVID has had a really big impact on where we feel secure and safe.”
The Provider Choice research report, COVID-19 and the NDIS, found that for many participants, digital delivery of services was inadequate during the pandemic, and face-to-face was preferred, in a finding that has implications for how people with disability recover now.
On average, 18 people die in residential house fires in Victoria every year. Of those, 62 per cent have a disability. The Prevent Detect Escape course is for at-risk members of the community, including those living with a disability, to help them better plan for fire emergencies at their homes.
For people living with disability, the need is greater to plan, act early and be prepared for an emergency. Standing for Emergency Management Backpack Evacuation Resource, EMBER comprises resources and helpful content including emergency backpacks designed to support individuals living with disability gain confidence in what to do when there is an emergency. Australian native characters are used as calming narrators and guides on the planning process through animations and storytelling. Easy English and Braille checklists and information is also available. In addition, The communication board app supports people with no speech as well as offering tools for emergency personnel to help communicate with non-verbal individuals during an emergency.
Disabled activists in Ukraine have been kidnapped and killed, residential institutions have been shelled, and Deaf people have been unable to escape to shelters because they cannot hear the air raid warnings, a conference has heard.
Australia is on track to record 10,000 deaths from COVID-19 tomorrow and it is still unclear how many of these deaths have been people with disability. Disability advocates worry there are still no future safety plans or strategies in place.