Include disability issue in disaster management
Speakers urge stakeholders
Staff Correspondent
People with disabilities face additional barriers in accessing emergency support during disaster period and there is a greater risk for people to become disabled or a chance for a person's intensity of disability to rise in disaster-affected communities, said speakers at a booklet launching ceremony in a city hotel yesterday.The prevalence rate of disability in Bangladesh is 5.6 percent, they said referring to a survey conducted by Handicap International (HI) and National Forum of Organisations Working with the Disabled (NFOWD). Choudhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf, minister for Food and Disaster Management, unveiled the cover of the booklet titled 'How to Include Disability Issues in Disaster Management'. Speaking as chief guest, the minister said the booklet will work as a guideline for all stakeholders working in disaster management and will encourage them to mainstream the disability issue in the policy and practice. Choudhury Kamal also said this booklet would open a new window for the development practitioners as well as for the government to pay attention to identify the vulnerability of people with disability and their immediate needs. The booklet was prepared by HI, a France based NGO working in Bangladesh since 1997, focusing primarily on creating sustainable change and inclusion of the people with disability in the society and to establish their rights in every sphere of life. Speaking as special guest, Jacques-Andre Costilhes, ambassador of France in Bangladesh, urged all to distribute the booklet across the country as soon as possible. Muhammad Saidur Rahman, director, Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness Centre (BDPC), Blandine Le Bourgeois, country director and Faizul Kabir, project manager of HI spoke on the occasion.
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