The impacts of Climate change affects persons with disabilities in a manner which many may not even consider.
Speaking from his personal experience, Tekamangu Bwauira who is the Climate Change officer from Kiribati says that one major impact is the increase in temperature during the day which impacts persons with disabilities on the islands.
Tekamangu is a person with a disability who relies on crutches to get around, shares that with development, the heat has become unbearable.
“It is hard to move around. When we go out and there are a lot of cement pavements, the heat is unbearable. This is very difficult especially for those who use mobility devices to get around like those who use crutches and wheelchairs. We are exposed to the direct heat, cannot use an umbrella and shade is hard to find.”
Amongst some of the impacts of climate change, Tekamangu adds that persons with disabilities are more likely to be adversely affected through the loss of income generation such as their cash crops, loss of their home from floodings and even loss or damage of their mobility devices.
The Climate Change officers who are persons with disabilities from five Pacific Island countries namely Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Tuvalu and Solomon Islands attended a one week workshop in Nadi recently to undergo further training.
Sharing his experience as a person with disabilities, Teka as he is affectionately known says that for persons with disabilities, climate change has made life harder for them.
“We rely on our cash crops to earn a living or to even feed our families. Then we have sudden rains or even floodings which also make it hard for us as we loose our main source of income and have to start all over again and at times with no support at all. This makes it really hard for us.”
According to the Kiribati National Disability Policy, the Island country has a disability prevalence rate of around 9% which means that there are around 11, 863 of persons above the age of 5 years have an impairment or are persons with disabilities.