Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters
A legally binding disaster protection treaty is being negotiated at the UN. This toolkit helps you understand it — and influence it — before the 2027 deadline.
Start here
This is an advocacy pack — a curated collection of tools, evidence, and communication resources designed to help you and your organisation understand the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters (PPED) treaty and take action to ensure it is disability-inclusive. Whether you are new to the PPED or already engaged in the negotiation process, this pack gives you what you need to make the case for meaningful inclusion.
This advocacy pack is intended for civil society organisations, organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), humanitarian actors, and anyone committed to ensuring that the rights of persons with disabilities are upheld in disaster contexts. It equips your team with clear talking points, evidence, and analysis that can be used internally for awareness-raising, or externally when engaging decision-makers.
You can use this pack to guide conversations with local politicians, government officials, institutional leaders, donors, and other stakeholders about what the PPED is, why disability inclusion matters, and what specific changes are needed in the treaty text. The resources here are intentionally practical — designed to be adapted to different audiences and contexts.
This is a live resource. It will be regularly updated to reflect the evolving negotiation process and emerging evidence. For more information, contact: [TBD].
♿ Accessibility note: If you need this information in an alternative format — Easy Read, audio, large print, or another language — please contact us.
Understanding PPED
The Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters (PPED) is an international treaty currently being negotiated at the United Nations. It is based on the Draft Articles developed by the International Law Commission (ILC) in 2016, and in 2024, the UN General Assembly formally agreed to turn these draft articles into a legally binding instrument — with a deadline of 2027.
The PPED matters because, for the first time, it would create binding legal obligations on States about how they must prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. Right now, much of what States do in disaster situations is guided by non-binding frameworks and voluntary commitments. A binding treaty changes that — it creates accountability. For the disability community, this represents a critical window to ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities are not just mentioned, but legally required in how disasters are managed globally.
⏳ The window is open — but closing. Treaty negotiations must conclude by 2027. Advocacy input from disability organisations, civil society, and National Societies is needed now to shape the final text.
The Draft Articles cover 18 articles across six broad areas. Click each to expand.
Establishes what the treaty covers and how "disaster" is defined. The current definition focuses on sudden-onset calamitous events — a significant gap, as advocates are calling to expand this to include slow-onset events such as drought and climate-related degradation, which disproportionately affect persons with disabilities.
⚠ Key gap: slow-onset events excludedAffirms that human dignity must be respected, that existing human rights obligations continue to apply during disasters, and that humanitarian principles — including non-discrimination — must guide all response efforts. These articles are foundational for disability inclusion, but currently lack explicit reference to the CRPD in the binding text.
⚠ Key gap: CRPD not cited in binding textObligates States to cooperate with each other, with the UN, and with humanitarian actors. Article 7's commentary already references CRPD Article 11 — a positive entry point for advocates.
✓ CRPD Art. 11 referenced in commentaryAddresses what States must do before disasters: risk assessment, early warning systems, and data collection. The current text contains no reference to accessibility, participation of persons with disabilities, or disability-disaggregated data.
⚠ Key gap: no accessibility or inclusion requirementsEstablishes the affected State's primary duty to protect its population and the obligation to seek external assistance when national capacity is exceeded. These articles do not currently require that protection be accessible or disability-inclusive.
⚠ Key gap: no disability-inclusive obligationGoverns how external assistance is offered, accepted, and delivered. Article 14 on quality of assistance is a key target for advocates to embed accessibility and reasonable accommodation standards.
⚠ Key gap: "quality" does not include accessibilityAffirms that the treaty does not displace existing international obligations — meaning the CRPD, the Sendai Framework, and other human rights instruments remain in force alongside PPED. This provides a foundation for insisting that CRPD obligations must be respected in all PPED implementation.
Why disability inclusion in PPED
Persons with disabilities — who make up at least 16% of the global population — are among the most severely affected when disasters strike. This is not because disability itself makes someone vulnerable, but because disaster systems are routinely built without them in mind. When evacuation routes are inaccessible, when emergency alerts are issued only in formats that cannot be received by people with hearing or vision disabilities, when shelters cannot accommodate wheelchairs or assistive devices, and when relief workers have not been trained in inclusive response — the result is predictable and preventable harm.
The barriers are systemic and span the entire disaster cycle. Before a disaster, persons with disabilities are frequently excluded from community preparedness planning. During a disaster, they face greater difficulty accessing early warnings, evacuation support, and emergency services. After a disaster, recovery systems often fail to account for the loss of assistive technologies, accessible housing, or community-based support — leaving persons with disabilities behind for longer and with fewer resources to rebuild.
The evidence is clear and consistent. These figures point to a structural failure, not an oversight.
Sources: 2023 UNDRR Global Survey; OECD-DAC data review 2023.
Despite these realities, the current PPED Draft Articles fall significantly short of ensuring disability-inclusive disaster protection. While there are encouraging references — disability is listed among grounds for non-discrimination, the CRPD is cited in the commentaries to a handful of articles — these references appear largely in the non-binding commentary sections rather than in the binding treaty text itself. Commentary does not create legal obligation.
The treaty's definition of "disaster" excludes slow-onset events. Article 9 on disaster risk reduction contains no language on accessibility or participation of persons with disabilities. There is no requirement for disability-disaggregated data, no mandate for accessible early warning systems, and no obligation for States to allocate budgets specifically for disability-inclusive disaster response.
The use of "vulnerable persons" throughout the draft reflects an outdated, charity-based framing. And critically, the draft contains no safeguard against institutionalisation or segregation of persons with disabilities during disasters — placing it in direct conflict with CRPD Articles 14 and 19.
The PPED draft recognises disability in its commentary — but commentary is not law. Our advocacy goal is to move disability inclusion from the margins into the binding treaty text.
Advocacy goals for PPED
Seven goals representing what disability-inclusive organisations are calling for in the final PPED treaty text. Click each to read more.
"The PPED must protect people from all disasters — including the slow-onset ones that quietly devastate persons with disabilities every day."
The current definition limits the treaty's scope to sudden-onset calamitous events, explicitly excluding slow-onset hazards such as drought, prolonged heat, sea level rise, and climate-related environmental degradation. We call on States to adopt an all-hazards definition of "disaster" consistent with the Sendai Framework and CRPD Article 11.
"Disability inclusion in disaster response is not a favour — it is a legal obligation under international human rights law."
The PPED must explicitly align with the CRPD within its binding text, not only in non-binding commentary. Articles 4 and 5 must directly reference CRPD Articles 3, 5, 9, 11, and 32. The term "vulnerable persons" must be replaced throughout with "persons in vulnerable situations."
"Nothing about us without us: persons with disabilities must have a seat at the table in every phase of disaster planning and decision-making."
Persons with disabilities must be recognised explicitly — not subsumed under broad references to "vulnerable groups" — as active participants in all phases of disaster management, including preparedness, response, recovery, and treaty implementation. This includes meaningful involvement of OPDs in risk assessments, planning, and evaluation.
"A warning no one can hear, a shelter no one can enter, and aid no one can use is not protection — it is exclusion."
Accessibility must be a binding standard in the PPED. Early warning systems must be available in multi-format communication including sign language, Easy Read, audio, Braille, pictograms, and local languages. Evacuation routes and shelters must be physically accessible. Article 14's "quality of assistance" must explicitly include accessibility and reasonable accommodation.
"If disaster data does not count persons with disabilities, disaster systems will not protect them."
The PPED must require States to collect, analyse, and use data disaggregated by disability — alongside age, gender, and location — to inform all stages of disaster planning and response. Consistent with CRPD Article 31, data collection must be done with OPDs, not merely about them.
"Disability-inclusive disaster response requires dedicated funding — not goodwill, not footnotes, but budgets and accountability."
The PPED should require States to allocate specific budgets for disability-inclusive DRR, designate disability focal points within DRR institutions, and invest in training for emergency responders. Where States call for external assistance, that assistance must comply with CRPD Article 32.
"Disasters must never become a reason to lock persons with disabilities away — the PPED must explicitly prohibit institutionalisation."
The PPED must explicitly prohibit the institutionalisation or segregation of persons with disabilities during disaster response. In practice, displacement frequently results in persons with disabilities being placed in congregate settings with heightened risks of neglect, abuse, and loss of liberty — a direct violation of CRPD Articles 14 and 19. States must direct resources toward accessible, community-based emergency shelter and relief services.
Tools
Use these messages in conversations, presentations, social media, and advocacy materials. Each is designed to be clear, concise, and shareable.
📱 Social media templates for these key messages are available in the resources section below.
Tools
Access the documents, templates, and tools you need to advocate effectively.
Square format templates for Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook.
Coming soonReal-world impact stories. Updated bi-monthly.
Coming soonReady-to-adapt letters for writing to your national government.
Coming soonTools
OPDs are essential voices in the PPED negotiation process. This section is designed specifically to support OPDs in understanding their rights under the treaty and how to advocate effectively.
The Disaster Law Treaty Community of Practice, spearheaded by the Italian Red Cross, connects National Societies and civil society organisations sharing advocacy strategies and lessons learned. Join here ↗
This is a live resource. Contact us to submit evidence, case studies, or feedback.
Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters
A legally binding disaster protection treaty is being negotiated at the UN. This toolkit helps you understand it — and influence it — before the 2027 deadline.
Start here
This is an advocacy pack — a curated collection of tools, evidence, and communication resources designed to help you and your organisation understand the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters (PPED) treaty and take action to ensure it is disability-inclusive. Whether you are new to the PPED or already engaged in the negotiation process, this pack gives you what you need to make the case for meaningful inclusion.
This advocacy pack is intended for civil society organisations, organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), humanitarian actors, and anyone committed to ensuring that the rights of persons with disabilities are upheld in disaster contexts. It equips your team with clear talking points, evidence, and analysis that can be used internally for awareness-raising, or externally when engaging decision-makers.
You can use this pack to guide conversations with local politicians, government officials, institutional leaders, donors, and other stakeholders about what the PPED is, why disability inclusion matters, and what specific changes are needed in the treaty text. The resources here are intentionally practical — designed to be adapted to different audiences and contexts.
This is a live resource. It will be regularly updated to reflect the evolving negotiation process and emerging evidence. For more information, contact: [TBD].
♿ Accessibility note: If you need this information in an alternative format — Easy Read, audio, large print, or another language — please contact us.
Understanding PPED
The Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters (PPED) is an international treaty currently being negotiated at the United Nations. It is based on the Draft Articles developed by the International Law Commission (ILC) in 2016, and in 2024, the UN General Assembly formally agreed to turn these draft articles into a legally binding instrument — with a deadline of 2027.
The PPED matters because, for the first time, it would create binding legal obligations on States about how they must prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. Right now, much of what States do in disaster situations is guided by non-binding frameworks and voluntary commitments. A binding treaty changes that — it creates accountability. For the disability community, this represents a critical window to ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities are not just mentioned, but legally required in how disasters are managed globally.
⏳ The window is open — but closing. Treaty negotiations must conclude by 2027. Advocacy input from disability organisations, civil society, and National Societies is needed now to shape the final text.
The Draft Articles cover 18 articles across six broad areas. Click each to expand.
Establishes what the treaty covers and how "disaster" is defined. The current definition focuses on sudden-onset calamitous events — a significant gap, as advocates are calling to expand this to include slow-onset events such as drought and climate-related degradation, which disproportionately affect persons with disabilities.
⚠ Key gap: slow-onset events excludedAffirms that human dignity must be respected, that existing human rights obligations continue to apply during disasters, and that humanitarian principles — including non-discrimination — must guide all response efforts. These articles are foundational for disability inclusion, but currently lack explicit reference to the CRPD in the binding text.
⚠ Key gap: CRPD not cited in binding textObligates States to cooperate with each other, with the UN, and with humanitarian actors. Article 7's commentary already references CRPD Article 11 — a positive entry point for advocates.
✓ CRPD Art. 11 referenced in commentaryAddresses what States must do before disasters: risk assessment, early warning systems, and data collection. The current text contains no reference to accessibility, participation of persons with disabilities, or disability-disaggregated data.
⚠ Key gap: no accessibility or inclusion requirementsEstablishes the affected State's primary duty to protect its population and the obligation to seek external assistance when national capacity is exceeded. These articles do not currently require that protection be accessible or disability-inclusive.
⚠ Key gap: no disability-inclusive obligationGoverns how external assistance is offered, accepted, and delivered. Article 14 on quality of assistance is a key target for advocates to embed accessibility and reasonable accommodation standards.
⚠ Key gap: "quality" does not include accessibilityAffirms that the treaty does not displace existing international obligations — meaning the CRPD, the Sendai Framework, and other human rights instruments remain in force alongside PPED. This provides a foundation for insisting that CRPD obligations must be respected in all PPED implementation.
Why disability inclusion in PPED
Persons with disabilities — who make up at least 16% of the global population — are among the most severely affected when disasters strike. This is not because disability itself makes someone vulnerable, but because disaster systems are routinely built without them in mind. When evacuation routes are inaccessible, when emergency alerts are issued only in formats that cannot be received by people with hearing or vision disabilities, when shelters cannot accommodate wheelchairs or assistive devices, and when relief workers have not been trained in inclusive response — the result is predictable and preventable harm.
The barriers are systemic and span the entire disaster cycle. Before a disaster, persons with disabilities are frequently excluded from community preparedness planning. During a disaster, they face greater difficulty accessing early warnings, evacuation support, and emergency services. After a disaster, recovery systems often fail to account for the loss of assistive technologies, accessible housing, or community-based support — leaving persons with disabilities behind for longer and with fewer resources to rebuild.
The evidence is clear and consistent. These figures point to a structural failure, not an oversight.
Sources: 2023 UNDRR Global Survey; OECD-DAC data review 2023.
Despite these realities, the current PPED Draft Articles fall significantly short of ensuring disability-inclusive disaster protection. While there are encouraging references — disability is listed among grounds for non-discrimination, the CRPD is cited in the commentaries to a handful of articles — these references appear largely in the non-binding commentary sections rather than in the binding treaty text itself. Commentary does not create legal obligation.
The treaty's definition of "disaster" excludes slow-onset events. Article 9 on disaster risk reduction contains no language on accessibility or participation of persons with disabilities. There is no requirement for disability-disaggregated data, no mandate for accessible early warning systems, and no obligation for States to allocate budgets specifically for disability-inclusive disaster response.
The use of "vulnerable persons" throughout the draft reflects an outdated, charity-based framing. And critically, the draft contains no safeguard against institutionalisation or segregation of persons with disabilities during disasters — placing it in direct conflict with CRPD Articles 14 and 19.
The PPED draft recognises disability in its commentary — but commentary is not law. Our advocacy goal is to move disability inclusion from the margins into the binding treaty text.
Advocacy goals for PPED
Seven goals representing what disability-inclusive organisations are calling for in the final PPED treaty text. Click each to read more.
"The PPED must protect people from all disasters — including the slow-onset ones that quietly devastate persons with disabilities every day."
The current definition limits the treaty's scope to sudden-onset calamitous events, explicitly excluding slow-onset hazards such as drought, prolonged heat, sea level rise, and climate-related environmental degradation. We call on States to adopt an all-hazards definition of "disaster" consistent with the Sendai Framework and CRPD Article 11.
"Disability inclusion in disaster response is not a favour — it is a legal obligation under international human rights law."
The PPED must explicitly align with the CRPD within its binding text, not only in non-binding commentary. Articles 4 and 5 must directly reference CRPD Articles 3, 5, 9, 11, and 32. The term "vulnerable persons" must be replaced throughout with "persons in vulnerable situations."
"Nothing about us without us: persons with disabilities must have a seat at the table in every phase of disaster planning and decision-making."
Persons with disabilities must be recognised explicitly — not subsumed under broad references to "vulnerable groups" — as active participants in all phases of disaster management, including preparedness, response, recovery, and treaty implementation. This includes meaningful involvement of OPDs in risk assessments, planning, and evaluation.
"A warning no one can hear, a shelter no one can enter, and aid no one can use is not protection — it is exclusion."
Accessibility must be a binding standard in the PPED. Early warning systems must be available in multi-format communication including sign language, Easy Read, audio, Braille, pictograms, and local languages. Evacuation routes and shelters must be physically accessible. Article 14's "quality of assistance" must explicitly include accessibility and reasonable accommodation.
"If disaster data does not count persons with disabilities, disaster systems will not protect them."
The PPED must require States to collect, analyse, and use data disaggregated by disability — alongside age, gender, and location — to inform all stages of disaster planning and response. Consistent with CRPD Article 31, data collection must be done with OPDs, not merely about them.
"Disability-inclusive disaster response requires dedicated funding — not goodwill, not footnotes, but budgets and accountability."
The PPED should require States to allocate specific budgets for disability-inclusive DRR, designate disability focal points within DRR institutions, and invest in training for emergency responders. Where States call for external assistance, that assistance must comply with CRPD Article 32.
"Disasters must never become a reason to lock persons with disabilities away — the PPED must explicitly prohibit institutionalisation."
The PPED must explicitly prohibit the institutionalisation or segregation of persons with disabilities during disaster response. In practice, displacement frequently results in persons with disabilities being placed in congregate settings with heightened risks of neglect, abuse, and loss of liberty — a direct violation of CRPD Articles 14 and 19. States must direct resources toward accessible, community-based emergency shelter and relief services.
Tools
Use these messages in conversations, presentations, social media, and advocacy materials. Each is designed to be clear, concise, and shareable.
📱 Social media templates for these key messages are available in the resources section below.
Tools
Access the documents, templates, and tools you need to advocate effectively.
Square format templates for Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook.
Coming soonReal-world impact stories. Updated bi-monthly.
Coming soonReady-to-adapt letters for writing to your national government.
Coming soonTools
OPDs are essential voices in the PPED negotiation process. This section is designed specifically to support OPDs in understanding their rights under the treaty and how to advocate effectively.
The Disaster Law Treaty Community of Practice, spearheaded by the Italian Red Cross, connects National Societies and civil society organisations sharing advocacy strategies and lessons learned. Join here ↗
This is a live resource. Contact us to submit evidence, case studies, or feedback.