Situations of risk and emergency
States Parties shall take, in accordance with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters. (Article 11)
Obligations
This article is an important new development, or application, of the right of life and survival to situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies impacting on persons with disability. The CRPD was developed during the period 2001 – 2006 against a backdrop of extraordinary events in the international community. These included the terrorist attacks in New York, Madrid, and London, the South-East Asian Tsunami, earthquakes in Asia and the Middle East, as well as the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. The development of the CRPD provided the opportunity to highlight the disproportionate impact of disaster and conflict on persons with disability. The article has both a domestic and an extraterritorial dimension. It requires State Parties to ensure that domestic responses to emergency, for example, standards for built environment, and domestic disaster planning, provide for the protection and safety of persons with disability in situations of emergency. It also requires State Parties to ensure that their obligations under international humanitarian law are fulfilled in a manner that ensures the protection and safety of persons with disability. This will require both the elimination of discrimination on the ground of disability, and specific measures to respond to the needs of persons with disability, in humanitarian assistance provided internationally.
Indicators
• All necessary measures are taken to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disability in situations of risk.
Example
The right to survival to situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies impacting on persons with disability will be particularly relevant to people who through their work are involved in:
• Caring for people or protecting people from danger
• Caring for people in situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters