The Way Forward: Building Resilience and Protecting Rights

Persons with disabilities in the Arab region face many challenges. Despite their resources, skills and capacities, they are often overlooked and excluded. As a result, they experience greater poverty, poorer health and more limited access to quality education and employment.

These inequalities are exacerbated in humanitarian crises. One of the best ways to ensure the safety, well-being and dignity of persons with disabilities in emergencies is to protect and promote their rights before disaster strikes.  Governments should do more to make sure that persons with disabilities can participate effectively in national development on an equal basis with others.

The post-2015 development agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a major opportunity to address these issues. As the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals approaches and the global community continues to formulate a new international development framework, policymakers should mainstream disability into SDG targets and indicators.

Further recommendations include:

  • Ensure the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in all phases of emergency management: In order to address the needs of persons with disabilities and promote their inclusion in crisis situations, they must be fully and effectively involved in emergency preparedness, response and recovery efforts. Effective channels for consulting persons with disabilities must be established and capacity-building of organizations of persons with disabilities should be carried out. A concerted effort must be made to take into account the needs of persons facing intersectional vulnerabilities, such as women and older persons with disabilities;
  • Adopt a twin-track approach in all phases of emergency management: Policymakers should: (1) remove barriers and ensure that persons with disabilities have full access to prevention, response and recovery measures on an equal basis with others; and (2) act to address the specific needs of persons with disabilities and promote their empowerment. In so doing, they will help to combat inequalities and enable the participation of persons with disabilities before, during and after an emergency;
  • Improve the evidence base on disability: Accurate and reliable disability data helps responders and policymakers to make informed decisions in an emergency. Without it, humanitarian actors may underestimate the number of persons with disabilities or fail to address their needs. By improving the collection, analysis and dissemination of baseline disability data, Governments can make a major contribution to protecting the rights of persons with disabilities in emergencies;
  • Invest in disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction: As the incidence of natural disasters rises, investment in disaster risk reduction (DRR) is becoming increasingly important. By prioritizing and including persons with disabilities, DRR efforts can help to reduce their vulnerability significantly. Such investments could include the building of accessible evacuation routes and the provision of information through early warning systems in formats accessible to persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, and to persons with mental and intellectual impairments;
  • Apply universal design principles: It is essential to apply universal design principles in order to make products and spaces accessible to and usable by all. Such an approach should be adopted not only in the construction and adaptation of buildings and infrastructure, but also in the provision of information, services and devices. Applying universal design principles facilitates the participation of persons with disabilities and benefits everyone. Building ramps and wide passageways in health clinics and shelters, for instance, improves their accessibility not only to persons with physical impairments, but also to pregnant women, older persons and those with injuries and chronic diseases.

Box 3. Interview with Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta: The impact of emergencies on disability

Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta is the Chief of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Division at the American University of Beirut Medical Center and volunteered at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City during the Israeli military incursion in July-August 2014.  He has travelled to Palestine on six medical missions, including during the first and second intifadas, and in 2008 and 2012.  In this interview, he talks mainly about his recent mission and his observations and reflections on the impact of emergencies on disability.

 

Q: Research indicates that many people are left with permanent disabilities as a result of injuries sustained during an emergency. Did you encounter this during your recent medical mission to Gaza?

A: Absolutely. I treated five to eight cases a day and I think approximately 80 per cent of these people will have some form of disability.  The most common types of disabilities included limb amputations, shattered or crushed joints, blindness or loss of eyesight, and severe burns.  Children represented the most vulnerable group.
I would say 50-60 per cent of my patients were children.  I treated one boy who lost his eyesight when his home was destroyed.  I also treated a girl whose elbow was shattered, and as a result will have limited mobility in her arm.  We treated several children between the ages of 5 and 15 who underwent amputations, in some cases bilateral amputations.  In many cases, the injuries occurred in homes which were rendered uninhabitable during the military operation, making it more difficult for the family to care for them.

 

Q: What were some of the obstacles you faced in treating persons with injuries and/or disabilities?

A: The siege has left the health sector in Gaza lacking in equipment and infrastructure.  Health workers have not had access to higher education, so the health system relies on the last generation that was able to obtain medical training outside Gaza.  Moreover, there is a lack of rehabilitation specialists.

 

Q: What obstacles will persons with disabilities in Gaza face in the future?

A: Several facilities for persons with disabilities, such as the Al-Wafa Hospital, were targeted and are no longer working.  So first of all, those facilities need to be rebuilt and equipped.  Housing must be provided for persons with disabilities and their families, and health services need to be rebuilt and expanded.  There is also a disproportionately high need for rehabilitative services of all types: from prosthetics and equipment to physiotherapists and doctors.

 

Q: What steps should be taken to better address the needs of persons with disabilities in emergencies?

A: A register should be set up in order to understand the scale of the issue.  It should include information on the level of disability as well as the needs, family support and housing situation of persons with disabilities.  You can then start planning for their specific needs.  In addition, huge parts of Gaza, unfortunately, need rebuilding and we must ensure that buildings, infrastructure and facilities are made accessible and inclusive.