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cbm Emergency Disaster Response

When disaster strikes, there’s no time to lose. We need to get precious
life-saving resources over to our partners immediately.

Our partners are ready!
Because they’re local and already established, they’re in a unique position to provide first response – before the relief agencies can get boats or planes in – if we can get them the funds.

We’ve got the community-based health and rehabilitation networks in place. We’ve got dedicated, skilled workers. And we’re ready with a 3-Step Disaster Plan.

“Persons with disabilities are doubly vulnerable to disasters, both on account of impairments and poverty; yet they are often ignored or excluded at all levels of disaster preparedness, mitigation and interventions.”
- The Red Cross and Red Crescent’s World Disaster Report 2007

cbm's 3-Step Disaster Plan

Step 1:
Save Lives – Food, clean water, shelter – people die without these essentials. In the first response, we get these supplies locally – we act as a life bridge until bigger relief agencies fly in.

Once they’re in, our job is to make sure people with disabilities don’t fall through the cracks of relief programs.

Step 2.
Prevent Disability – Diseases like cholera, trachoma, malaria, set in quickly bringing high fevers that leave cerebral palsy and epilepsy in their wake. Malnutrition, dehydration and inadequate shelters cause blindness, physical and intellectual damage and long-term disability.

We’ve trained community-based health workers to find sick children fast, and get them to our partner clinics for treatment.

Step 3.
Help Re-build Lives – One thing we know about disasters – they aren’t over when the media cameras pull out. They affect lives for years.

cbm is committed to being there for the long-term, helping people to re-build their lives, learning to live with new disabilities, learning new jobs, rebuilding infrastructure.

Emergency Updates

Haiti
Rising from the Ruins
How your support is making a difference in Haiti.
[Read more]

Egypt
Humanitarian need in Egypt supported by cbm.
[Read more]

Ivory Coast
cbm monitors impact on partners.
[Read more]

On the radar

Valerie Scherrer is cbm’s International Emergency Coordinator. She tracks emergencies as they develop, she works with our Partners to get them as prepared as they can be. She knows better than anyone the value of timely fast response.

“In the coming months, the cyclone seasons will be active across south Asia and disasters like the Nargis Cyclone in 2008 could happen again. The summer is the rainy season across Asia, and as it is the South of Thailand has already been flooded.

“The ring of fire has mobilized our partners and energy recently through earthquake and volcano eruption like in Yogyakarta a few months ago, and we need to continue supporting our partners to get ready for more such disasters.

“In Africa, Niger is preparing for this year’s food shortages, and it may be worsened by the conflict around the Middle East and the energy crisis (petrol).”

Contact Information

If you have any questions about cbm, please contact us toll-free at
1-800-567-2264 or email cbm.

Help us Get Ready

The Facts

People with disabilities are invisible and often excluded in emergency responses
For every child killed in conflict, three are injured and permanently impaired
Negative attitudes towards people with disabilities are heightened in situations of conflict and emergencies

Haiti – a devastating earthquake kills 300,000 people and leaves more than a million without shelter.
Pakistan – floods kill 2,000 and affect more than 18 million people.
Brazil – Over 500 dead and thousands homeless in the worst natural disaster to hit that country in decades.
Philippines – 500,000 people displaced by raging flood waters.
Sri Lanka – a quarter of a million people displaced by conflict around Colombo.
China – over 3,000 dead and 15 million evacuated.
New Zealand – more than 150 dead, extensive damage throughout the city.
Japan – a triple disaster of massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear exposure.
Myanmar – 6.8 earthquake damaging homes, monasteries, government buildings.

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