Leveraging assistive technology for inclusive disaster risk reduction and climate action – ReliefWeb

Report on Integrating Assistive Technology in Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Action

Introduction: Aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals

A global study by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and ATscale presents actionable recommendations to integrate the rights and needs of assistive technology (AT) users into Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and climate action. This integration is fundamental to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly the principle of “leaving no one behind.” The findings highlight critical gaps that impede progress on several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

Key Challenges Impeding SDG Progress

The study identifies significant barriers that prevent the full inclusion of AT users, thereby hindering the attainment of key SDG targets. These challenges include:

• Exclusion from Data and Planning: AT users are frequently invisible in data systems, leading to their exclusion from early warning mechanisms and preparedness planning. This systemic oversight directly contravenes the core objective of SDG 10 to reduce inequalities.
• Inadequate Emergency Response: During emergencies, AT users are often not facilitated due to missing or inappropriate assistive products. Stockpiles contain ill-suited devices, supply chains are poorly coordinated, and rehabilitation services are underfunded or non-existent, undermining the targets of SDG 3.
• Inaccessible Infrastructure and Communication: Critical infrastructure, such as emergency shelters, is rarely designed for accessibility. Persistent communication barriers from early warning to recovery phases create further risks, failing to meet the inclusivity and resilience targets of SDG 11.
• Systemic Gaps in Governance: A lack of leadership, dedicated financing, and clear institutional responsibilities results in the needs of AT users being deprioritised or ignored, which is a significant obstacle to building the effective and inclusive institutions called for in SDG 16.

Strategic Recommendations for SDG-Aligned Action

To build responsive, inclusive, and resilient national systems, the policy brief outlines a clear path forward that aligns DRR efforts with the SDGs.

1. Integrate AT into Proactive Risk Reduction: Preventive measures must embed AT inclusion into early warning systems, contingency planning, and anticipatory financing before crises occur. This approach is essential for reducing risk and safeguarding lives, directly contributing to SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 11, and SDG 13.
2. Foster Inclusive Governance and Partnerships: Governments, humanitarian actors, and donors must establish clear institutional responsibilities and financing for AT provision in crisis settings. This aligns with SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) by promoting collaboration to achieve sustainable outcomes.
3. Prioritize Co-Design and Meaningful Engagement: It is essential to engage meaningfully with organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) and AT users. Adopting co-design approaches ensures that persons with disabilities are actively involved in shaping solutions, a critical step for fulfilling the ambitions of SDG 10 and building just, inclusive societies under SDG 16.

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

The article highlights issues that are directly connected to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The core focus on assistive technology users, who are predominantly persons with disabilities, within the context of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and climate action, links to goals concerning health, inequality, sustainable communities, climate action, and partnerships.

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being: The article’s emphasis on “rehabilitation services” and the need for appropriate “assistive products” connects directly to ensuring healthy lives and well-being for all.
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities: The central theme is the exclusion and marginalization of assistive technology users. The article calls for their rights and needs to be addressed, which aligns with the goal of reducing inequality and promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities: The focus on DRR, “early warning and preparedness planning,” and making infrastructure like “emergency shelters” accessible relates to making human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
• SDG 13: Climate Action: The article explicitly mentions the need to address the needs of assistive technology users in “climate action,” linking the discussion to strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards.
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals: The recommendation for “governments, humanitarian actors, and donors to engage meaningfully with organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs)” underscores the importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships to achieve these goals.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

Based on the specific challenges and recommendations mentioned, several SDG targets can be identified:

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

• Target 3.8: Achieve universal health coverage, including access to quality essential health-care services. The article’s concern about “rehabilitation services” being “underfunded or nonexistent” and the lack of “appropriate assistive products” during emergencies directly relates to ensuring access to essential health services for this vulnerable group.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

• Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of… disability… The entire article is a call to action for this target, aiming to end the exclusion of assistive technology users from “early warning and preparedness planning” and DRR processes.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

• Target 11.5: By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected… by disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations. The article’s goal is to “safeguard lives” of assistive technology users, a vulnerable group, by improving DRR measures.
• Target 11.b: By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion… resilience to disasters… The recommendation to embed “assistive technology inclusion… into early warning systems, contingency planning, and anticipatory financing” is a direct call for implementing inclusive disaster resilience policies.

SDG 13: Climate Action

• Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries. The policy brief aims to build “responsive, inclusive, and resilient national systems” that can withstand climate-related disasters by including the needs of assistive technology users in “climate action.”

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

• Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships. The article explicitly recommends that “governments, humanitarian actors, and donors engage meaningfully with organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) and assistive technology users” and use “co-design approaches,” which is a clear example of promoting civil society partnerships.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

The article does not mention official SDG indicators, but it implies several ways to measure progress based on the problems it identifies:

Implied Indicators

• Data Availability on Persons with Disabilities: The article states that assistive technology users are “often invisible in data systems.” An implied indicator for progress towards Target 10.2 would be the proportion of national DRR data systems that disaggregate data by disability.
• Inclusion in National DRR Policies: The call to embed inclusion into planning implies an indicator for Target 11.b: the number of national and local DRR strategies that explicitly include provisions for assistive technology users. Progress could be measured by reviewing “early warning systems” and “contingency planning” documents for such provisions.
• Accessibility of Infrastructure: The statement that “infrastructures such as emergency shelters are rarely designed to accommodate assistive technology users” points to an indicator for Target 11.5: the proportion of public emergency shelters that meet accessibility standards for persons with disabilities.
• Participation of OPDs in Planning: The recommendation to “engage meaningfully with organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs)” suggests an indicator for Target 17.17: the existence of formal mechanisms for the participation and co-design of DRR and climate action policies with OPDs.
• Availability of Assistive Technology in Emergencies: The problem of “missing or inappropriate assistive products” and “ill-suited devices” in stockpiles implies an indicator for Target 3.8: the percentage of national emergency stockpiles that include a range of appropriate and pre-identified assistive products.

4. Create a table with three columns titled ‘SDGs, Targets and Indicators” to present the findings from analyzing the article.

Source: reliefweb.int