Webinar: “Safety through inclusion: The case for emergency deinstitutionalisation”

In this webinar, a panel including persons with disabilities and experts in disaster management, human rights and service provision will discuss the need for “emergency deinstitutionalisation” of persons with disabilities and how this could be achieved. The term “emergency deinstitutionalisation” refers to protecting disabled peoples’ basic rights to live in the community, getting them the support required to leave the institution in the short term, and subsequently providing any additional support and access to mainstream society, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The aim is to achieve the transition as fast as possible, while preventing against homelessness, absence of formal support services and over-reliance on informal care.

Speakers will include:

• Catalina Devandas Aguilar, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• Danlami Umaru Basharu, Chair, UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• Dr George Nikolaidis, Chair, Lanzarote Committee, Council of Europe

The webinar will cover the following topics:

• Immediate threats to the health and life of children and adults with disabilities in institutions, and the need to move people out of institutional care settings;
• Emergency protections against irreparable harm through human rights law and international human rights systems;
• How to protect persons with disabilities through community inclusion and emergency deinstitutionalisation;
• The elements of emergency deinstitutionalisation strategies;
• The role of a potential international commission to protect people with disabilities in institutions by calling for urgent deinstitutionalisation and development of community-based supports a matter of priority;    
• The feasibility of developing Emergency Deinstitutionalisation Guidelines, and for such guidance to be formally annexed to the International Health Regulations.

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted in graphic detail the dangers inherent in congregate forms of residential care. Viruses spread like wildfire in institutional settings and pose a mortal threat to persons with disabilities, older persons, and children in alternative care. Emerging evidence shows the rates of mortality in institutions have been exceptionally high, in some cases accounting for between 40 – 60% of all deaths.

Many countries have initiated emergency strategies to respond to the heightened risks faced by     sections of the population at increased risk of infection, including providing emergency shelters for the homeless, adopting decongestion strategies in penal facilities, and implementing schemes to provide remote primary health care assistance. A number of countries are in the stage of lifting emergency measures and planning for a possible second wave of the virus, including better preparedness of social and health care services.

But many countries have pursued failed strategies in the field of residential social care which have focused on locking down institutions and prohibit any contact with the outside world, instead of triggering emergency procedures to rehouse people with proper support in the community. Such responses continue, even where the rest of the population has been allowed to return to many of the usual activities.

Practical information:  

The webinar will be held on Zoom. Closed captioning will be provided. International Sign will be provided if required by any of the registered participants.

There will be a follow-up webinar Friday June 12 organized by Disability Rights International (DRI) on challenges and implementation in the Americas, featuring: Maria Soledad Cisternas, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Disability, Amalia Gamio, Member, UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Joel Hernandez, President, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Esmeralda Arosemena, Commissioner & Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Children, IACHR, and Silvia Quan, President, Colectivo Vida Independiente, former member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. For more information, see here.

To register click here