Following the earthquake and tsunami on the 11th March, Japan is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. On top of this, the emergency response is having to be organised under the terrifying threat of a major nuclear catastrophe.
As a reference organisation supporting people with disabilities after earthquakes, Handicap International has offered support to its Japanese partners. These include the Association for Aid and Relief (AAR) and members of the Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI) network that, under normal circumstances, work in the field of international solidarity. We are also in contact with Japanese field staff who have previously worked for Handicap International.
Two of our specialists based in South East Asia were about to fly to Tokyo to express solidarity with our Japanese partners and to jointly assess their needs in the context of the extraordinarily serious situation facing people stricken by the disaster. The instability of the situation and, most of all, the nuclear threat has driven our partners to ask us to postpone our mission. Currently on stand-by, our team will leave as soon as we are given the green light by our partners, who are constantly updating us as to the situation.
Therefore, for now, Handicap International is not launching an emergency fundraising appeal. However we are not ruling it out if the situation worsens and if our partners request us to strengthen specific aid for people with disabilities.
While our mission remains on stand-by, any spontaneous donations we receive for Japan will be passed on to AAR, a Japanese NGO operating in the Sendai region.
