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Including people with disabilities in emergency relief efforts

OOSTERHOFF, Pauline
KETT, Maria
November 2014

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This issue focuses on the inclusion of people with disabilities in emergency relief efforts and concludes that “more must be done to ensure the needs and rights of people with disabilities are fully recognised in disaster risk reduction and emergency responses. Accelerating progress will require inclusive humanitarian programming and the use of technological solutions to be effectively promoted and incentivised, and people with disabilities and their organisations to be involved from the outset in the design and implementation of policies and programmes”

IDS Rapid Response Briefing 8

Using geographic information system technology to improve emergency management and disaster response for people with disabilities

ENDERS, Alexandra
BRANDT, Zachary
2007

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Disability, as a product of person–environment interaction, is particularly sensitive to catastrophic events and disasters. Disasters are specific to a physical location, as are the resources needed to handle the aftermath of the event. Geographic information systems (GIS) technology provides the ability to spatially coordinate resources from separate systems, which is vital for emergency management. GIS provides the capacity to go beyond surveillance and identification of at-risk people with disabilities to actively address the spatial nature of the person–environment interaction. GIS may provide the basis for further investigation and development of the science of environmental factors in the person–environment interaction. Mapping resources, and not just people, in the environment can change the perception and portrayal of people with disabilities in disaster incidents from people with “special needs” to people and organizations that are community contributors. Disability policy advocates, working at the state level, need to get disability-relevant geospatial data into the critical infrastructure used for emergency planning and response. A map showing the proximity of available resources demonstrates the importance of GIS to people with disabilities by identifying available resources in disaster response and recovery.

 

Journal of Disability Policy Studies, Vol 17, No 4

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