Climate change opens up a lot of new issues for which persons with disabilities have to deal with just to make sure that they are safe.
These are the sentiments of Touasisi Molo who is the climate change officer for Tuvalu’s Fusi Alofa, an Organisation of Persons with Disabilities (OPD).
Molomolo reveals that over the past few years they have noticed an increase in the number of severities of natural disasters as well as an increase in sea levels amongst other impacts.
“Climate change has affected my island home. This time we see a lot of king tides and storm surges which come and flood low lying islands and farms back home. Our farms are now affected as the land is becoming very salty and affecting the crops. When the tides come, we go and relocate our members and they come back again when the waters go back. Sometimes, there is a drought and families are only given one bucket of water a day. Persons with disabilities are overlooked. We need water to ensure our hygiene. For persons with disabilities, we use more water, and our needs are different, but we do not receive this assistance. Water is a basic need, and we would like to also be consulted when assistance is provided.”
Speaking as well on the issue of flooding, Herbert Bell who is the Climate Change officer for Nuanua O Le Alofa (NOLA) an OPD in Samoa, adds that the unseen cost of disability needs to be considered at all times.
“In Samoa or any Pacific Island for that matter, when we have relocate due to floodings and king tides or even heavy rain, we have to seek permission first from the landowners. As persons with disabilities, landownership is unheard of. This poses a risk for many as entering the land unannounced may result in arguments or at times disagreements and this raises the question – What will happen when we have to relocate suddenly.”
These were some of the issues brought up to a weeklong Validation workshop in Nadi this month.
The Pacific Disability Forum works closely in five Pacific island countries namely Kiribati, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands and Samoa raising the capacity of climate change officers in country as part of the Australia Pacific Climate Partnership which focuses on strengthening resilience to climate change.
