ABSTRACT
This chapter builds the case for using a human rights-based approach for including persons with disabilities in mainstream disaster management initiatives. Disaster management activities must be aware of the possibility of the dynamic to limit participation and seek ways to encourage true and equitable participation. The National Organization on Disability in the USA has identified types of disability organizations and recommended strategies that disaster management initiatives can use to approach them. The inclusion of persons with disabilities in disaster management leadership is best done at as early a stage as possible. The human rights approach to disability moves from the treatment of persons with disabilities as objects of charity, medical treatment, and social protection, towards viewing them as people with rights who are capable of claiming those rights and making decisions for their lives based on their free and informed consent, as well as being active members of society.
