The Abia State Commission for the Welfare of Disabled Persons says it will work to ensure that issues concerning Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) are included in awareness campaign on climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The Chairman, Abia State Commission for the Welfare of Disabled Persons, Mr David Anyaele, said this at a capacity building workshop on disability inclusive climate change response held in Umuahia on Friday, October 11, 2024.
The two-day event was organised by the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) to sensitise stakeholders on their roles in inclusive climate change resilience and adaptation in the state.
The stakeholders include the Organisation of Persons with Disabilities, government agencies, civil society organisations, PWDs and the media.
Anyaele said that the commission would engage with relevant agencies, particularly the Ministry of Environment, to ensure that the planned state policy framework response to climate change is disability inclusive.
He said that the commission would further engage with the PWDs to deepen the knowledge they had acquired at the workshop.
According to him, this will help to link PWDs with the relevant agencies responsible for emergency-related activities that may occur as a result of climate change.
Anyaele commended CCD for choosing Abia as one of the pilot states to test its project around climate change and PWDs and initiating the process with empirical evidence.
“It is an evidence that can be tested, measured and reviewed from time to time,” Anyaele said.
He further said that the abridged version of the report from the findings he had received showed that the PWDs were not included in issues concerning climate change.
The Resource Person, Dr Queensley Chukwudum, said the climate change impacts are much more on PWDs due to barriers in mobility and communication.
She equally identified emergency responses and the lack of inclusion in disaster planning and climate governance as additional barriers.
Chukwudum, a Senior Lecturer, Department of Insurance and Risk Management, University of Uyo, presented a lecture on “Climate change mitigation and adaptation mechanism for PWDs in Abia”.
She said that the media should be actively involved in the awareness programme that could give the PWDs a strong voice.
“This is a beautiful awareness programme for PWDs. They have a voice already, but we want to solidify it,” she said.
In separate goodwill messages, the stakeholders expressed commitments to ensuring that PWDs were mainstreamed into their climate change policies and programmes.
By Leonard Okachie
