Japan's Ambassador to the United Nations Motohide Yoshikawa on Tuesday stressed the importance of recognizing the special needs of people with disabilities during major disasters such as the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.
In such situations the needs of those with disabilities "are particularly sensitive in times of disaster," Motohide said.
The Japanese envoy, who was speaking at a conference for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, explained that after the Great East Japan Earthquake, Japan revised a law on disaster measures to require that lists be created to identify those in need of help in the event that evacuation orders are issued.