Experts review and finalize disability inclusion and climate resilience strategy for the Pacific

Experts from across the Pacific attended a three-day meeting to review and finalize the 10-year Disability-Inclusive Resilient Development Strategy for the Pacific. Photo: UN Women Fiji

Lautoka, Fiji — A three-day regional convening to review and finalise the Ten-Year Disability-Inclusive Resilient Development Strategy was organized in Lautoka, Fiji from 8th to 10th July, 2024. The Strategy aims at formulating a gender-responsive as well as disability-inclusive, equitable and resilient development strategy for the Pacific region.

The meeting brought together organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) and stakeholders in the disability and climate and disaster resilience sectors from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Australia and New Zealand, to review and provide inputs to the 10-year draft strategy spearheaded by the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF) with support from UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office.

As part of the support provided for the implementation of regional commitments on gender equality, disaster risk reduction, and climate resilience, UN Women, through its Women’s Resilience to Disasters (WRD) Programme, is providing technical and financial support to ensure that the Strategy is gender-responsive.

Speaking at the event, Ms. Naheed Ahmed, UN Women Regional Programme Manager on Women’s Resilience to Disasters, stated that “through this programme, UN Women, supports key regional commitments on disaster risk reduction, climate change, and resilience in Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Our core support ensures that the implementation of regional commitments is gender-responsive and inclusive, recognising the role of women as change agents and leaders whose voices and agency shape resilience-building efforts."

Photo: UN Women Fiji

The outgoing Chief Executive of the Pacific Disability Forum, Mr. Setareki Macanawai, reiterated the call for a concerted effort in ensuring equitable participation of persons with disabilities from inception right through to implementation and evaluation of the Strategy. He stated that: “Exclusion is costly, and disasters do not discriminate. The Pacific Disability Forum needs genuine, meaningful, and continued partnerships with stakeholders to ensure that no one is left behind during times of natural disasters, especially persons with disabilities who are more often than not the furthest left behind in society. The vision of a truly disability-inclusive Pacific cannot be achieved without the help of partners, considering that the Pacific is one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world.”

“This strategy is a stepping stone in ensuring disability inclusion and equity within climate and disaster resilience. It is my hope that this strategy will ensure a point of no return for the inclusion of persons with disabilities so that gains made are irreversible. The focus on gender equality, especially for young girls and women with disabilities, inclusive disaster risk reduction, climate change, and humanitarian response, reiterates the call for the full, effective, and equitable participation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of life,” Mr Macanawai reiterated.