• Global Survey Report on Persons with Disabilities and Disasters 2023 was recently released by UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
• The survey captured over 6,000 responses from 132 countries to evaluate progress on government policies that should be offering protection.
• An initial survey focused on disability was conducted in 2013.

MAJOR FINDINGS

Persons with disabilities make up 16% of the world’s population and suffer an overall death rate due to disasters that is two to four times higher than the general population.

• Persons with disabilities face a “shocking lack of support” with no progress in the last decade, despite a huge increase in climate disasters worldwide.
• Specifically, 84% of respondents in 2023 reported not having a personal preparedness plan in case of a disaster, such as knowing evacuation routes, available shelters and stocking up on emergency supplies.
• Even with sufficient advance warning, 17% PwDs face a lot of difficulties in evacuating.
• 86% PwDs reported no participation in community level DRR decision-making and planning.