Exclusion of PWD'S at the Africa Climate Change 2023

SarahBosibori

Africa Climate Change 2023 was considered a summit filled with meaningful events, initiatives, and discussions focused on addressing climate change and its impact on the African continent in the year 2023. It was an opportunity for African nations and stakeholders to come together, collaborate, and find sustainable solutions to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change. The events included conferences, summits, workshops, and awareness campaigns to raise understanding and action on climate change in Africa.

As stated in the overview of the event on www.africaclimatesummit. org " The summit was to serve as a platform to inform, frame and influence commitments, pledges and outcomes, ultimately leading to the development of the Nairobi Declaration."

Well put! I would say enticing but one of the stakeholders that were left out are PWDs, Ashura Michaels a highly respected deaf human rights, gender, inclusion and public policy advocate in Kenya expressed her disappointment at the lack of inclusivity in terms of accessibility and enabling contribution towards such an opportunity to action on climate change.

"Today I attended the Africa Climate Summit and I am truly saddened that there was no paper presented by persons with disabilities 😭😭. Where are we ?? why are we a second thought at every opportunity? Youth, Women, children, the Indigenous communities plus the evangelical communities did🥱

I want world leaders to know that that persons with disabilities are more likely to be left behind on climate change actions or abandoned during evacuation in disasters and conflicts due to a lack of preparation and planning, as well as inaccessible facilities, services and transportation systems.

Disruption to physical, social, economic, and environmental networks and support systems affects persons with disabilities much more than the general population. There is also a potential for discrimination on the basis of disability when resources are scarce.

Furthermore, the needs of persons with disabilities continue to be excluded over the more long-term recovery and reconstruction efforts, thus missing another opportunity to ensure that cities are accessible and inclusively resilient to future disasters." Her word's exactly

I mean if all African stakeholders are involved why leave the most affected population in the world PWDs? As the CRPD article 32(a) states "Ensure that international cooperation, including international development programmes, is inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities;" Which the ACS 23 went against. We continue to be treated as the "others" second-class citizens we rarely get to be heard and it still remains a huge gap that will be difficult to fill even after we have been expressing our voices to be heard😞.

It's unfortunate that such a sustainable, insightful world-changing event could exclude our community. There are indeed things that happen without us😩😫

Crpd_guy

https://community.enableme.org/en/discussion/58512/exclusion-of-pwds-at-the-africa-climate-change-2023

The absence of representation and accessibility for persons with disabilities is a significant concern that has been raised by advocates like Ashura Michaels. This omission highlights an important aspect of inclusivity and equity that should be addressed in all such events and initiatives.

We all know that Persons With Disabilities are disproportionately affected by climate change due to disruptions in physical, social, economic, and environmental networks. Discrimination can occur when resources are scarce, further exacerbating their vulnerability. This calls for Persons With Disabilities being included in such gatherings.