People with disabilities face many challenges during the war, trying to protect themselves and their loved ones. International humanitarian law, human rights treaties ratified by Ukraine, and national legislation require the state to ensure the protection of the entire population, including persons with disabilities, at all stages of the «cycle of armed conflict.».
The National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine has been implementing Article 11 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into Ukrainian legislation and policy for many years, realizing the importance of ensuring the protection and safety of persons with disabilities during wars and humanitarian emergencies.
These methodological recommendations focus on the issues of equipping bomb shelters, including for people with disabilities, in buildings and places of mass gathering.
An analysis of current legislation and building codes and standards, as well as surveys of people with disabilities, women raising children with disabilities, and the elderly, show that existing bomb shelters in different regions of Ukraine do not meet modern requirements in these areas:
- insufficient or absent facilities and shelters to protect the population;
- the location of the shelters makes it impossible to reach them during the time between the start of the alarms and the start of the shelling;
- shelters are not designed for long stays and large numbers of people;
None of the existing storage facilities meets modern requirements in terms of planning characteristics and equipment;
- misuse of premises that are not adapted to provide minimal protection against conventional munitions, air shock waves and debris from destroyed buildings (household basements in multi-storey buildings), etc. leads to massive deaths of people with limited mobility.
The purpose of developing these guidelines is to summarize experience and provide suggestions for ensuring the protection of low-mobility groups, including persons with disabilities, in the current environment.
In developing the recommendations, the current legislative and regulatory acts on the protection of civilians, DBN B 2.2.40 «Inclusiveness of Buildings and Structures. Basic Provisions,» as well as the experience of different countries around the world in designing and arranging separate premises and special structures to ensure the protection of the population.
Methodological guide “Ensuring accessibility of civil protection facilities for people with reduced mobility”
|
 |
|
Download the manual in pdf format |
*********
This publication was developed by the All-Ukrainian Public Association "National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine" within the framework of the project "Disability-inclusive response and recovery led and coordinated by organizations of persons with disabilities", funded by the European Disability Forum and the Christian Blind Mission (CBM).
