International day for disaster reduction 2013: Symposium on disabilities and disaster risk reduction

The Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11th 2011 killed over 15,000 people and over 2,500 people are still missing. It is reported that the mortality rate of persons with disabilities was approximately twice as many as that of the general victim. The high mortality rate of persons with disabilities highlights the necessity for building disaster-resilient communities through promoting a disability-inclusive approach.

As the IDDR event in Japan with the theme of “Living with Disability and Disasters”, this event aims to share with the international community the experiences and lessons learnt by Rikuzentakata, a city devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake. From this context, the event is co-organized by the following three organizations: UNISDR, which aims to promote international cooperation for Disaster Risk Reduction; the Nippon Foundation, which aims to assist persons living with disabilities and their recovery and reconstruction from the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami; as well as the Japan Disability Forum, a network organization consisting of a number of Japanese organizations working together to support persons with disabilities in Japan.

In addition, the event seeks inputs in the context of disability inclusive DRR from the discussions among the persons with disabilities and their care givers to contribute to the on-going consultations for the post-2015 framework for DRR, which will be adopted at the 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan in 2015.