An Assessment of Disability Inclusion in Albania's Disaster Risk Reduction System  

Albania is among the most disaster-prone countries in Europe, frequently struck by earthquakes, floods, wildfires, droughts, and extreme weather. Persons with disabilities (PWDs), 6.5% of the adult population and 10% of children, face mortality rates in disasters estimated to be two to four times higher than those of the general population. Yet Albania's civil protection system has long been disability-blind: national strategies, local emergency plans, early warning systems, and evacuation protocols have been drawn up with little regard for the specific needs of PWDs. Despite the country's ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2012 and the adoption of a Civil Protection Law in 2019 that explicitly references PWDs, the gap between legal obligation and operational practice remains wide. This paper analyses results from a structured institutional survey administered to central government bodies, prefectures, and municipalities across Albania. Drawing on responses from 26 institutions, the study examines institutional awareness, policy implementation, training levels, communication practices, and inter-institutional cooperation on the inclusion of PWDs in disaster risk reduction (DRR). Key findings include the near-total exclusion of PWDs from emergency drills, reported by 53.8% of institutions; the absence of accessible emergency communication formats in 65.4% of institutions; severe shortages of trained personnel; and the identification of insufficient financial resources as the primary barrier by 92.3% of respondents. The findings reveal a wide gap between formal commitments, including Albania's Law on Civil Protection (2019), the National DRR Strategy and Action Plan (2023–2030), and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and what actually happens in practice. The paper identifies the key deficiencies and closes with seven concrete policy and operational recommendations, covering dedicated budget lines, mandatory training, disability-inclusive early warning systems, evacuation protocols, participatory mechanisms, disaggregated data systems, and accountability frameworks, aimed at building a rights-based, inclusive DRR system in Albania.

disaster risk reduction; persons with disabilities; Albania; inclusive policy; civil protection; Sendai Framework

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