Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Fifth Session
Geneva, 11-15 April 2011
CRPD and Earthquake statement
Nagase Osamu
International Disability Alliance
Inclusion Japan/International
Thank you chair and all the members of this important Committee on the Rights ofPersons with Disabilities for letting me speak on behalf of International Disability
Alliance (IDA). My name is Nagase Osamu from Inclusion Japan, a national memberof Inclusion International, which is a member of IDA.
I would like to say a few words about the big earthquake which hit the north-easternpart of Japan on 11 March and its implications to CRPD. In fact today marks exactly
one month after this major disaster and many people are observing moments of prayer
today. More than 27,000 people, mostly Japanese but people from different countries
as well, have been found dead or missing.
As someone from Japan, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere
appreciation to all the kind thoughts and support provided to us from all parts of theworld. Also personally I would like to apologize for the environmental damage causedby the radioactive leaks from nuclear power stations.
Last week I was in Miyagi, next to Fukushima, serving as a volunteer for the support
center for persons with disabilities, established by Japan Disability Forum, which is anational network of disability organizations in Japan, and includes many members ofIDA. Our organizations are doing our best.
In Miyagi, I could not believe my eyes when I visited the coastal areas hit by tsunami.
The devastation is just beyond imagination and expression. But I was struck by thedetermination of persons with disabilities, their family members, supporters and thepublic in general, to meet this challenge.

There was one mother. When there was another big earthquake 30 years ago, thepublic nursery was closed for days and her daughter with intellectual disabilities, stillsmall, had to stay at home for a long time. The mother, who provides day services now,is determined to keep her center open for those who need it. She resumed services on
the following day of 12 March when there was no electricity or gas. Her center evenprovided food to the family members and community.
There was one blind man, a retired coal miner, in his late 80’s. When at home, he wason his own, with the map and geography of the neighborhood in his head. But his still
new house was destroyed by tsunami. He had to evacuate to the school and now stays
in its gymnasium. His mental map is no more useful and he needs much more support
from his family members, including his grandchildren. He does his best not to takemuch water so that he does not have to go to the restroom often.

Reasonableaccommodation, community support services, and accessibility, they are all lacking.
These are just a few examples. There are so many episodes of courage as well as
alienation, cases of inclusion, exclusion and discrimination.
strength and weakness of our community.

They show both theThe disaster has made the existing

inclusion and exclusion many times more obvious.
The disaster has reminded us the importance of the putting CRPD into practice, theimportant responsibility of States Parties and this Committee. Not only article 11 on
situations of risk and humanitarian emergency, article 9 on accessibility, article 19 on
living independently and being included in the community, and article 32 on
international cooperation, to name a few, but the entire CRPD has to be put intopractice. We are reminded of this in a very painful way. We humbly hope that lessons
we are learning can contribute to the work of this Committee.
In closing, once again, those of us in Japan would like to thank all the expressions ofsolidarity as well as support from the international community and look forward tomeeting the challenge of implementing CRPD with our friends and colleagues aroundthe world.
Thank you very much for this opportunity.