Lautoka, Fiji- A three-day regional convening to review and finalise the Ten-Year Disability-Inclusive Resilient Development Strategy was held from the 8th – 10th July, 2024. The Strategy is aimed at formulating a gender-responsive as well as disability-inclusive, equitable and resilient development strategy.
The convening brings together Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and stakeholders in the disabilities and climate and disaster resilience sector from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Australia and New Zealand, over the three-days to provide their inputs on the review of the draft strategy at the Tanoa Waterfront Hotel, in Lautoka, Fiji.
The Ten-Year draft strategy, spearheaded by the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF) with support from UN Women Fiji Multi Country Office, outlines strategic actions and change areas for achieving disability inclusion and equity within climate and disaster resilience in the Pacific. The 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 as part of the support provided for the implementation of regional commitments on gender equality, disaster risk, and climate resilience.
In addressing the gathering, Ms. Naheed Ahmed, the Regional Programme Manager stated that “through the Women’s Resilience to Disasters 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."
Speaking on the regional convening, the outgoing Chief Executive of PDF 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.