It is the obligation of the state to ensure equal and effective access for deaf and hard of hearing persons to early warning systems, the Commissioner for Administration and Protection of Human Rights, Maria Stylianou-Lottides, points out in her Report.
The Commissioner had examined a complaint submitted, on July 31, 2025, by the Pancyprian Organization of the Deaf against Civil Defence, on the need to ensure the accessibility of deaf people to emergency information situations.
As stated in its Report, the timely information and warning of the population in the event of an imminent or evolving danger is an essential element of civil protection and is directly linked to the protection of the life, physical integrity and safety of every person, as well as their property.
The ability to access the relevant services, she emphasizes, cannot, therefore, depend on a person's ability to perceive an audio message or distress signal, nor be limited or hindered for reasons related to disability.
In particular, it states that ensuring equal and effective access for deaf and hard of hearing persons to early warning systems is an obligation of the state.
"It therefore follows that, in relation to deaf people, as well as more broadly in relation to people with disabilities, it is not enough to formally include them in the measures applicable to the general population, but it is necessary to take differentiated measures or procedures, which ensure in practice that any messages or warnings of the Civil Defence reach these persons in a timely manner and in a clear and understandable way, as well as that these persons can, in a state of emergency, effectively communicate with the competent state services," she notes.
It is positive, she adds, "that Civil Defense recognizes the existing gap in the design and provision of adequate and accessible means of communication for people with hearing or speech impairments in emergency situations, considering as its main priority the need to comply with the principles of universal access, equality and non-discrimination, expressing the intention to review the political and technological means it implements.
However, she states, "the continued delay in the implementation of specific actions for the tangible inclusion of the disabled and especially of the disabled in the actions of early information in an emergency continues to create responsibility of the state and make it accountable first to its citizens and second to its international obligations".
Therefore, the Commissioner says, everything that is planned, namely, firstly, the update of the Special National Plans, secondly, the operation of CY-Alert and thirdly, the implementation of NG112, should be promoted as a matter of priority in a way that will ensure equal access of persons with disabilities to early warning and emergency services, based on specific timetables, roadmap with specific actions and procedures and close consultation with KYSOA and the Pancyprian Organization of the Deaf.
This, she concludes, is also her recommendation to the Director General of the Ministry of Interior and the Assoc. Civil Defence Commander, to whom the Report is submitted. The Report is communicated simultaneously to KYSOA and the Pancyprian Organization of the Deaf.
