Building inclusive disaster resilience: ensuring no-one is left behind

Viewing disaster risk reduction through a GEDSI lens: actions and tools to make DRR accessible and inclusive to all

Imagine waking up to a blaring siren that signals an impending flood threatening your village and a downpour that shows no sign of stopping. The once calm river near your village has transformed into a raging torrent flowing uncontrollably over its banks. Panic sets in as you scramble to gather your essential belongings and make a run to evacuate to higher ground.

You struggle through the flooded streets among many others and see parents clutching their children’s hands tightly, trying to stay together amidst the chaos. The goal is to reach a rescue shelter located at higher ground, surviving the stampede of villagers desperately trying to escape.

Now, imagine being in this terrifying scenario as a person living with disability. The early warning sirens are inaudible to those who are hard of hearing and running for your life towards the rescue shelter through ravaged land is next to impossible for a person with mobility impairments. And, even if you are able to evacuate, the shelters lack infrastructure – such as ramps for wheelchair users, and a lack of clean water and proper sanitation increases health risks.

This is the reality for many people with disabilities living along lower Koshi river basin in eastern Nepal. As a hotspot for hazards within the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, Nepal faces the dual threat of ‘too much and too little’ (TMTL) water issues, commonly seen and experienced as floods and chronic water shortage. This is especially the case for settlements along the lower Koshi river basin from Koshi province to Madesh province.

In Nepal, 2.2% of the total population live with disabilities, facing unique challenges in their daily lives that are magnified by the country’s vulnerability to disasters. During disaster situations, people with disabilities may become separated from their caregivers during evacuation, or whilst at the shelter. As many people with disabilities are more dependent on caregivers, due to their understanding, or mobility or sensory needs, this increases their vulnerability. Some emergency shelters are constructed rapidly, in an irregular manner, without adequate management. This has led to increased occurrences of gender-based violence in the shelters, where people with disabilities, and especially women with disabilities (47% of the 2.2%) are placed in even more precarious and vulnerable situations. In addition, their marginalised status in society – due to gender norms and financial status – exacerbates their lack of access to resources and support.

What can be done?

A crucial step to address the needs of women and people with disabilities is to incorporate their specific requirements into the local government’s budgeting processes. ‘Gender Responsive Budgeting’ (GRB) is a budgeting tool which aims to address inequality by integrating equity into disaster planning, allocating funds to reach those most impacted.

Although the GRB process, which was introduced in Nepal in 2007/8, is mandated by the national government, it is yet to be implemented by all municipalities within the country. Particularly in rural Nepal, there is a misconception that this budget is solely for women’s needs. However, this is not the case.

ICIMOD’s ‘Building Capabilities for Green, Climate Resilient, and Inclusive Development’ (HI-GRID) project, supported by Australian Aid, works in Nepal’s Lower Koshi River Basin to implement the GRB process by building the local government’s capacity. The project emphasises that the budget is not only a ‘women’s budget’ but should be applied using a Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) lens. The HI-GRID project has committed to supporting five selected municipalities and rural municipalities to incorporate GRB into their budgets by the end of the project’s tenure in 2026.

Raising voices and understanding needs

HI-GRID has been working with the local government since the project’s inception in 2022. During this time, a concerning observation has been the lack of representation of people with disabilities within the local government workforce. The few individuals with disabilities employed in these municipalities do not hold decision-making positions, rendering their voices unheard. In a society where most leadership and decision-making positions are not held by women, people with disabilities face an even greater uphill battle for inclusion and representation.

So, a crucial question arises – how can the project incorporate the needs of people with disabilities in our plans when we do not have a clear picture of what they need?

In order to understand the tailored needs of all vulnerable groups in the basin, especially the needs of people with disabilities, on 15–16 April 2024, the HI-GRID project organised a workshop at ICIMOD in Kathmandu, entitled ‘Inclusive Disaster Resilience: Amplifying Voices of People with Disabilities’. Due to a number of challenges in involving people with disabilities in research, in a context of broader marginalisation for these groups in Nepal and the region, this was the first time that such a workshop had been held at ICIMOD.

The workshop benefitted from a rich mix of perspectives from the 36 participants, with experts, advocates and representatives from the disability community, including queer disability groups.

This event provided a platform for the participants to express their needs and share their lived experiences during disasters, with specific details about the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, and the Covid-19 pandemic. It also gave the project team an opportunity to understand what the needs of people with diverse disabilities may be during water-related hazards. We found that a multi-pronged approach is imperative.

Accessible and inclusive to all

Crucially, early warning systems, emergency shelters and evacuation plans need to be accessible and inclusive to all. Jamuna Subedi, a workshop participant, suggested that, in addition to the sirens that are generally used to signal an impending flood, flashing lights could be used to accompany the sirens, much like on an ambulance, in order for people with hearing impairments to be aware of the warning.

Relief efforts must prioritise safety equitably. Participants urged that shelters need to be equipped with essential facilities, and infrastructure such as ramps for wheelchair access. Aditya Rai, a participant representing the queer disability community, emphasised the importance of segregated accommodation to cater to the diverse needs of individuals with various types of disabilities, genders and identities. Aditya shared personal experiences from the 2015 earthquake rescue shelters, where the community faced challenges related to accommodation, care packages, and access to sanitation facilities that failed to consider their specific requirements.

Additionally, educational materials including announcements and information about disasters, disaster response training sessions and evacuation plans need to be made accessible. This means producing the materials in audio, braille, sign-language interpretation and in local languages.

Representatives of the community must be involved in decision-making processes, and awareness about disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction (DIDRR) must be increased among disaster management workers, planners, local leaders, persons with disabilities, and their families. DRR policies that are already in place need to be revised through a GEDSI lens.

By adopting an inclusive approach that recognises the diverse needs of all community members, particularly those with disabilities, DRR efforts can better ensure the safety, wellbeing, and resilience of vulnerable populations during and after disasters.