Towards disability transformative early warning systems: Barriers, challenges and opportunities
This report finds that most EWS and DRR programmes are unable to account for the heterogeneous needs of affected communities, thus, effective EWS and DRR practices should focus on the context specific needs of communities and the individuals within them to ensure that no one is left behind. Early warning systems (EWS) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) programming remain some of the most effective ways to save lives during a disaster. The earlier a person is warned of a hazard and the more prepared they are, the more time they have to make critical life-saving decisions.
The six key broad recommendations identified in this report for the development of disability transformative DRR policies and EWS are:
- Challenge and address the systemic and structural ableism within societies, governments and NGOs.
- Implement policies more effectively and with greater accountability to the people for whom they are designed to support.
- Adopt a twin-track approach to disability which combines a universal strategy with targeted responses to peoples’ specific functional needs.
- Implement Universal Design to ensure all facets of an EWS are accessible to everybody in society irrespective of functional needs.
- Reconsider how disability is defined, who is defining it and what purpose it serves.
- Ensure that the participation of PWD is meaningful and effectively empowers them to make decisions which honour the phrase “nothing about us, without us.”