Including older and disabled people in emergency response

Globally, 15% of people live with some kind of disability and one in eight are over the age of 60. In conflicts and natural disasters, the risk of becoming disabled increases, for example due to injuries and poor health care. So older people and people with disabilities make up a significant and growing proportion of disaster-affected populations – and yet they often find it difficult to access help at times of emergency.

CBM is one of 7 agencies running the Age and Disability Capacity Programme (ADCAP). Together we are training, supporting and equipping organisations that provide emergency aid to include older people and people with disabilities when they respond to a humanitarian disaster. Our focus is particularly on training for organisations in Kenya, with others working in Pakistan and the UK.

The ADCAP programme led by HelpAge International is an initiative of the Age and Disability Consortium (CBM, DisasterReady.org, Handicap International, HelpAge International, IFRC, Oxford Brookes University and RedR UK). It is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).