Foreword / Introduction from Disability Rights Commissioner The emergence of COVID-19 has brought extraordinary challenges that continue to affect the disability community in Aotearoa. COVID-19 exacerbated existing inequities for disabled people and tāngata whaikaha Māori1 and their whānau. In my view, these inequities should result in a much more concerted effort to meet the needs of this population to ensure disabled people don’t fall further behind. A fundamental human rights duty on States is to protect. The full extent of the impact of COVID-19 on disabled people and tāngata whaikaha Māori is unlikely to ever be fully known due to not having quality data and evidence and robust monitoring mechanisms in place across the system. This in of itself is of grave concern to me and it is imperative this is addressed for the future. I launched this Inquiry in March this year because I was hearing a lot of worrying anecdotes and having serious concerns raised with me. I also attended many meetings with government agencies where suggestions were made about how to better support disabled people and plan for widespread community transmission of Covid 19. These suggestions were not acted on or, if they were, there were extensive delays, which put disabled people and their whānau at risk and caused considerable distress. I wanted to find an opportunity to give voice to disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori and their whānau, and to bring an evidence-base to further advocacy and preparations for the future. Thank you to the organisations and networks that provided input to this Inquiry. Since launching my Inquiry, the government has responded positively and with urgency to some of the issues I and others were raising. I applaud their efforts. This must be sustained and pivot the way governments respond to the needs of disabled people and tāngata whaikaha Māori now and in the future. In my view, Aotearoa New Zealand’s COVID-19 elimination strategy was incredibly successful at protecting disabled people and was highly effective for 18 months. The elimination strategy undoubtedly saved countless lives, particularly before New Zealand’s vaccination programme could advance significantly. Some of the missteps and gaps in a comprehensive COVID-19 strategy for disabled people during 2020 can be understood in the context of an unprecedented global situation. However, missteps and gaps in a comprehensive COVID-19 strategy for disabled people are less understandable or tolerable at this point. 1 The Human Rights Commission recognise that there are various terms used by Māori communities. For example, some submissions used the terms Whanau Hauā, Tāngata Turi, disabled Māori, or Māori with lived experience of disability. 3