Remarks by Mr. TAMON Hiroshi, Advisor to the Japanese Delegation to COSP16, at the COSP16 side-event " Disabilities in Times of Emergency: Addressing Disabilities in Natural Disasters and Emergency Situations"
2023/6/12
Good evening, everyone. I would like to thank all the hosts and sponsors for organizing this valuable event on disabilities in times of emergency, which is all the more timely in light of increasing emergency situations around the world. It is my honor to convey a few words as a candidate for the CPRD, and as a person with lived experience in this area.
My country, Japan, is a country with frequent earthquakes. On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami occurred, killing 15,900 people. On April 16, 2016, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit the prefecture of Kumamoto. Most recently, on May 5th this year, another earthquake of 6.5-magnitude occurred. Many persons with disabilities have been killed, injured, or evacuated by these earthquakes. A disability organization found that the mortality rate of disabled people reached 2.06% while that of the total population was 1.03%. The Japanese government amended a law to require local governments to make lists of people in need of assistance and assigns them a rescuer. In addition, it recommends local governments to make individualized plans that clarify how to evacuate from home to shelters for each disabled person. Currently, many local governments are in the process of developing these plans.
One existing challenge is that not all local governments have created the plans yet, and rescuers themselves may not always be able to assist persons with disabilities in the case of a disaster.
However, there are encouraging developments such as recent trials to use remote communications and smartphone apps to match persons with disabilities with available rescuers in the event of a disaster. If these trials work, it will allow more efficient support to be provided for persons with disabilities.
In closing, there is still much work to be done in this field, but I hope this side event will encourage and further efforts both locally and internationally to protect and support persons with disabilities during times of natural disaster and emergency situations.
Thank you.
My country, Japan, is a country with frequent earthquakes. On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami occurred, killing 15,900 people. On April 16, 2016, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit the prefecture of Kumamoto. Most recently, on May 5th this year, another earthquake of 6.5-magnitude occurred. Many persons with disabilities have been killed, injured, or evacuated by these earthquakes. A disability organization found that the mortality rate of disabled people reached 2.06% while that of the total population was 1.03%. The Japanese government amended a law to require local governments to make lists of people in need of assistance and assigns them a rescuer. In addition, it recommends local governments to make individualized plans that clarify how to evacuate from home to shelters for each disabled person. Currently, many local governments are in the process of developing these plans.
One existing challenge is that not all local governments have created the plans yet, and rescuers themselves may not always be able to assist persons with disabilities in the case of a disaster.
However, there are encouraging developments such as recent trials to use remote communications and smartphone apps to match persons with disabilities with available rescuers in the event of a disaster. If these trials work, it will allow more efficient support to be provided for persons with disabilities.
In closing, there is still much work to be done in this field, but I hope this side event will encourage and further efforts both locally and internationally to protect and support persons with disabilities during times of natural disaster and emergency situations.
Thank you.