The Founding Executive Director of the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) and Chairman of the Abia State Commission for the Welfare of Disabled Persons, Dr. David O. Anyaele, has called for a review of Nigeria’s national climate change policy to ensure the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in climate change planning, mitigation and adaptation programmes.
Anyaele made the call yesterday in Umuahia, Abia State, during the official unveiling and launch of the CCD research report titled, Disability-Inclusive Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Nigeria.
He said climate change affects everyone, but persons with disabilities often suffer its greatest consequences because of existing barriers to access, participation and essential services.
According to him, findings from the research showed that Nigeria’s national climate change policy did not adequately recognise persons with disabilities, making their inclusion in the Climate Change Council and other relevant decision-making structures imperative.
He urged government agencies responsible for climate change interventions to ensure that their programmes and processes are designed with the specific needs of persons with disabilities in mind.
“We strongly believe that implementing the recommendations of this research will go a long way towards reducing exclusion and non-participation of people with disabilities in climate change responses in Nigeria,” Anyaele said.
He explained that persons with disabilities were central to the research, noting that data was collected from them to understand their experiences and interactions with government agencies, non-governmental organisations and development partners involved in climate change activities.
Anyaele added that their views were incorporated into the design and finalisation of the report, stressing that the research was intended to ensure that people with disabilities were not left behind in Nigeria’s climate change response.
He further disclosed that the research had already begun influencing climate change policy discussions in Abia State, where relevant state agencies participated in the validation process.
According to him, the disability community was also given the opportunity to contribute to the state’s emerging climate change policy.
He said the CCD, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, engaged the Special Assistant to the Abia State Governor on Climate Change and presented the policy document to members of the disability community for their input.
Anyaele expressed optimism that the intervention would contribute to a more robust and disability-inclusive climate change policy for Abia State, ensuring that persons with disabilities are adequately considered in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.
By Blessing Anienwe
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