The Forgotten Ones of Haiti

The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has warned that persons with disabilities must not become “the forgotten ones” during the emergency response and the reconstruction of Haiti. Relief workers are struggling to provide aid to the people of Haiti, and while the situation remains difficult for everyone; “persons with disabilities are particularly affected by the crisis,” according to the Committee’s chairperson, Mohammed Al-Tarawneh.

This issue is, unfortunately, not unique to the Haiti earthquake, disabled people are among the most vulnerable when disaster strikes. Environmental barriers - such as destroyed roads and pavements - are a greater obstacle to those with mobility issues. People who require regular medication or treatment are likely to lose out in the panic of makeshift medical centres and overrun hospitals. For those disabled people living in emergency shelters, sanitary arrangements may be inaccessible. Where food aid is distributed in refugee camps, disabled people are often at the back of the queue and many go hungry.  Evidence shows, for example, that a disproportionate number of those who died in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina were elderly or disabled people. The same goes for the tsunami in South East Asia, and other natural disasters.

The World Health Organisation is attempting to mainstream disability. In other words, rather than leaving the issue to a small specialist team, the hope is that all the technical departments address disability issues in their work. One of the clusters at WHO is Health Action in Crisis, which is working with an NGO to prepare a checklist for relief coordinators, alerting them to the particular vulnerabilities of disabled people.

• Posted:18 Feb 2010 at 05:45 pm

Gok Wan: “Every Woman Deserves to Feel Gorgeous”

TV fashion guru Gok Wan is thrilled with his latest Channel 4 series describing the revamped format ‘How to Look Good Naked With a Difference’ as “really special”.

The 35-year-old British fashion consultant, author, and television presenter has transformed the lives, and wardrobes, of hundreds of women over the past four years, but the new series will see him focusing on women with disabilities for the first time.

Gok explained: “Doing the show is always amazing and every woman has different concerns about their figure. But with these ladies it was even more moving for me because all their worries linked back to their disabilities.”

Three women, whose self esteem is at rock bottom, have been chosen. In the first programme, Gok meets 40-year-old wheelchair-user Tracy Warren from Leicestershire, who hates her stomach and legs, and believes she can never look attractive. Plus, Hollyoaks actress Holly Marie Stewart reveals she refuses to let her disability deter her ambition to be a fashionista.

See how they fare in the three-part special starting Tuesday 19th of January at 8pm on Channel 4.

• Posted:18 Jan 2010 at 01:54 pm