Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DIDRR) Critical Insights and Good Practices from the Field

People with disabilities are disproportionately marginalized in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster risk management (DRM). They are often left out of initiatives seeking to plan, prepare, respond and recover from disasters. They confront innumerable barriers, from inaccessible early warning systems, evacuation routes and shelters to unresponsive governments and attitudinal problems, all of which aggravate their exclusion at all levels. They are also more vulnerable to disasters because of their poverty, inequality, where they live, their fragile livelihoods, and the lack of protection alongside the injustices they are exposed to.

DIDRR has grown in importance over the past years as a possible way of addressing this situation, to ensure that DRR programmes are inclusive, prepared and responsive. In parallel, organisations such as CBM have started to infuse DIDRR in initiatives such as Community Based Inclusive Development (CBID), ensuring it is a cross-cutting and priority area. However, research on DIDRR is still lacking, and so are documentations from the field, including reflections on what may work within context. We know little about the effects and impacts of DIDRR initiatives in truth, because evaluations are scarce, and because longitudinal research is still unavailable.

This study responds to some of these concerns. Reporting on interviews held with 5 CBM at-risk country offices and partners (Haiti, Niger, Zimbabwe, Philippines and Bangladesh) and a review of literature, it presents a set of critical reflections longside good practices documented by those on the ground. It illustrates how key factors and processes need to be in place to facilitate good practices. These include: availability of data; contextual knowledge; alertness to the heterogeneity of disability; prioritising of the voices and strategies of people with disabilities and their organisations; inclusive targeting; and alertness to ecosystems such as global pandemics that tilt the balance of plans.

Good practices discussed by participants traverse a range of areas, including: the need to generate good, useable disaggregated data that can be effectively used for lobbying and programming; strengthening OPDs; the need for informed advocacy; training on DIDRR at all levels; infusing universal access principles across the board; changing attitudes about disability; inclusive early warning systems; and effective and comprehensive mapping among others. Resilience, in particular, was discussed at length, notably the strengthening of livelihoods to weather stresses and shocks, alongside a consistent need for flexibility in planning and response in crises.

The report rounds off with a number of brief conclusions, calling for more research, including evaluations to look at effectiveness and impact, together with strategies for ensuring political commitment to and resources for DIDRR.