Transcript
SETAREKI MACANAWAI: We at Pacific Disability are quite pleased at being able to connect with these humanitarian actors and out governments and the NGOs on how we can consider, which is what we are developing at the moment, a regional strategy to address persons with disabilities in disaster preparedness and of course response and rehabilitation.
JENNY MEYER: What practical kind of things are you looking at?
SM: When you look at disaster preparedness, the disaster plan, when you look at villages then we talk about localisation, village disaster response plans. How are the evacuations of centres and the access of those centres by persons with disabilities, are they safe? are they accessible? We talk about the response by our National Disaster Office and their plans and their policies and even indeed funding, are they catering to the needs of persons with disabilities? So the issue of evacuation centres for persons with disabilities is about accessibility and also safety and we look at the possible elimination of violence against women and girls including women with disabilities. And so I think when you talk about humanitarian actions, when responders come to the Pacific with good intentions to help those affected areas and affected people, are they taking on board the concerns of persons with disabilities, are they disability inclusive in their disaster response actions. Are those food stations when they are out there, are they accessible, are they in accessible places? So these are issues that we often don't think about because everything's rushed. And the use of data; how do governments and responders know where persons with disabilities are so that they can be relocated safely? And how are they transported safely from their homes to the evacuation centres.
JM: You must have had some stories that have sparked off this concern? Have their been issues of disabled people being neglected or forgotten about or harmed in some way during some of these disasters?
SM: Certainly there were two opportunities over the two days where persons with disabilities shared their stories. It's really heart wrenching. We heard stories where in a particular country where there was a tsunami warning and this particular person with a disability was walking slowly to get to a safe area and there were people in a vehicle just rushing past just staring at this person. We had women with disabilities, those who wanted to help them to get them to safe places not knowing how they should be lifted, how should they be carried. So the lived experience of persons with disabilities really drove home the message to humanitarian actors that in situations of emergencies and responding to those situations we really cannot afford to leave persons with disabilities behind but to bring them on board.