Natural and technological disasters can disproportionately affect vulnerable groups (e.g. migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, internal displaced persons, people with disabilities, children) living, working, studying, traveling or transiting in the country experiencing the crisis. They are more vulnerable in case of a disaster given their limited access to information, not mastering the language of the State where they are displaced, nor be aware of risks. One of the aims of this workshop is to focus on how to better include vulnerable groups in policies and strategies for disaster risk reduction.
The workshop is co-organised by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement.
The participants included, local stakeholders and NGOs, IOM, UNICEF, academia as well as international experts. It builds on growing international attention on issues related to human mobility, protection of human rights and the environment. The 2015 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) has explicitly called for the inclusion of migrants in DRR the policies and practices of their host countries and communities.
