International Conference: Disasters are always inclusive. Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Emergency Situations

Bonn, 7 - 8 November, 2007

In humanitarian emergency situations, persons with disabilities are amongst the most vulnerable and tend to be disproportionately affected by negative impacts of disasters. Due to lack of consideration in emergency preparedness/response planning and programming, like non-inclusive evacuation plans, poor accessibility of emergency information systems and inaccessible temporary shelters, persons

with disabilities are particularly limited in their capacity to cope with emergency situations. At the same time a deterioration of impairments or new disabilities through injuries can be caused by aggravating conditions of violence or natural hazards.

Humanitarian aid organisations have partly adapted the vocabulary in regard to integrating persons with disabilities into their policies, but this is still not sufficiently implemented. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted in December 2006, can serve as the crucial instrument of international law on which to base demands for full participation of persons with disabilities: Article 11 calls for the enforcement of “all necessary measures to ensure protection and safety for persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters”.

During the conference, challenges and potentials to put the implications of the UN Convention into humanitarian aid practice will be discussed. What are actual consequences of disasters for persons with disabilities and how can persons with disabilities be adequately considered in all phases of humanitarian aid interventions? How can disaster preparedness and acute emergency response be designed more inclusively, and what should comprehensive and barrier-free rehabilitation and reconstruction activities look like?

Disability in the Context of Humanitarian Emergency Situations (natural disasters)
Milestone a Right Based Movement
Muhammad Shafiq ur Rehman, Milestone, Pakistan

Disability in the Context of Armed Conflict Situations
Claudia Bell, Handicap International, München

Traumatisierungen nach Katastrophen (Traumas after natural disasters)
Inge Missmahl, Caritas International, Freiburg

To what extent are People with Disabilities Considered in Humanitarian Aid?
Maria Kett, Leonhard Cheshire Centre of Conflict and Recovery, Großbritannien

The Role of Local Government in Community-based Disaster Risk Management with a special focus on disability issue
Shahidul Haque, Social Assistance and Rehabilitation for the Physically Vulnerable (SARPV), Bangladesch

'Community Based Disaster Preparedness' in India. Practical experiences of Caritas Germany
Karl Ammann, Caritas International, Freiburg

General Standards in Humanitarian Aid: An Overview
Peter Runge, VENRO, Bonn

The SPHERE Project - Standards and Indicators in Relation to Persons with Disabilities
John Damerell, The Sphere Project, Schweiz

Practical Example for Successful Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in a Humanitarian Emergency Situation
Valérie Scherrer, Handicap International, Frankreich

How can Persons with Disabilities be Included and Considered in the Acute Emergency Situation?
Dr. Peter K. Schmitz, Malteser International, Köln

Accessibility - Holistic on Paper and in Reality! Post-Tsunami experiences from Sri Lanka
Christin Lidzba, CBM, Bensheim

How DESWOS is Working... Principles and Projects
Werner Wilkens., DESWOS, Köln

Barrierefreier Wiederaufbau öffentlicher Infrastruktur und Etablierung von existenzsichernden Systemen der sozialen Sicherung
Dorothea Rischewski, GTZ, Eschborn

Wie kann ein Wiederaufbau öffentlicher Einrichtungen erfolgen, der alle Bevölkerungsgruppen umfasst?
Gisela Holtz, Holtz&Faust GbR - rund um Barrierefreiheit, Münster

Anforderungen an ganzheitliche Rehabilitation
Marcel Baeriswyl, Johanniter Unfallhilfe, Berlin

The Bonn Declaration was composed and published as result of the international conference “Disasters are always inclusive. Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Emergency Situations” which took place from 7 – 8 November, 2007, in Bonn/Germany.

The conference was organized by Disability & Development Cooperation (bezev), Kindernothilfe, Christian Blind Mission, Caritas Germany International Dptm., Handicap International and Der Paritätische Gesamtverband.