Inclusive Futures, a flagship disability development inclusion program funded by UK Aid, has called for proper data collection of Persons with Disability.
The Group made the call in three new reports published outlining what the disability development programme learnt, the impact of the pandemic on people with disabilities, and how grassroots organisations provided vital support to people with disabilities who were left behind by non-inclusive systems.
Inclusive Futures call for data to be properly collected and used to ensure no one is left behind in disaster responses. And that information generated is available in accessible and appropriate ways to the people it affects.
According to Susan Pieri, Associate Programme Director for Inclusive Futures, “Experience shows that it is more effective to plan for inclusion rather than react. Lessons learned in our COVID-19 response can be directly applied to ensure future crises response and recovery is disability-inclusive.
“We know these lessons have been found before – but the simple fact of the matter is that people with disabilities are still being left behind and these lessons still aren’t being learnt by the sector”.
Pieri further stated that “There are more than one billion people with disabilities worldwide, that’s around 15% of the global population – we can’t continue to let down such a huge number of people in disaster response.”
The three sets of research and learnings were compiled as part of Inclusive Futures, a flagship disability development inclusion program funded by UK aid. It brings together global leaders and specialists from 16 organisations to improve access to work, education and healthcare, and tackles stigma and discrimination faced by people with disabilities.
To view all of the research and learnings or find out more about Inclusive Futures, please visit www.inclusivefutures.org/learning-from-covid-19.