Age and Disability Task Force Pakistan

Preamble:

Persons with disabilities, chronic (or disabling) diseases and older persons comprise at least 15% of the total population, equalling at least 3 million persons affected by the floods . Due to the massive extent of the floods and ensuing crisis, and relying on repeated past experience of such crises, we anticipate that persons with disabilities and older persons will be forgotten in the humanitarian response and reconstruction phase. Response by the main agencies is designed to be nationwide and therefore does not take into account the particular vulnerabilities and contributions of different groups within the population such as persons with disabilities and older persons. If particular attention is not paid towards their inclusion and participation in the humanitarian response, these persons will remain largely “invisible” and will not be in a position to access properly and equally relief and early recovery response initiatives. Pakistan has signed the 2008 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, thus has to respect article 11 on protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situation of risks. The article 11 is strongly linked with article 32 which stipulates the inclusiveness of international cooperation . Protection and safety in the context of situation of risks includes basic life saving and resilience perspectives therefore made it mandatory for all stakeholders to pay attention to persons with disabilities needs and to make their projects inclusive. Pakistan is a signatory to the 2002 Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, which calls for each older person to have a secure income, access to health care, a safe place to live, an opportunity to participate in the community, opportunities for continuous learning and personal growth, protection from harm from those he/she should be able to trust, and the right to make decisions for himself . MIPAA’s implications for emergencies are addressed in issue 8, articles 54, 55, and 56. These state that older people should be accorded equal access to food, shelter, medical care and other services. These may include: participation in planning and delivering appropriate and accessible services; recognition of difference needs of older people, assistance with re-establishing family and social ties, protection from abuse, targeted inclusion of older people, and international cooperation. A second area of focus is the enhanced contributions of older people to the re-establishment and reconstruction of communities and the rebuilding of the social fabric following emergencies through participation, leadership, economic self sufficiency, access to relevant legal information, and an institutional sharing of lessons learned Additional UN conventions supporting the fulfilment of the rights of older persons and persons with disability include: Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN Principles on Older Persons 1991, UN IASC Endorsement on the Inclusion of Older Persons 2008.