By Leonard Okachie
The Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), on Wednesday, organised a one-day capacity building workshop for Abia local government officers, to equip them to promote inclusive disaster preparedness at the grassroots.
The sensitisation workshop in Umuahia was to ensure that persons with disabilities (PWDs) were included in climate change adaptation and disaster management initiatives.
The training, supported by the Disability Rights Fund, drew disaster response officers from different LGAs, representatives of ministries, departments and agencies of government, as well as leaders of the various disability clusters.
In a remark, the Chairman, Abia State Disability Commission, Mr David Anyaele, said that the commission would work with other government agencies to ensure that their preparedness was inclusive of PWDs.
He said that the government was activating all necessary measures, including legal framework, to ensure that all actors and stakeholders within the ecosystem of disaster management and preparedness were equipped for their role and responsibility.
According to him, globally, disaster is known to be inclusive and it does not discriminate.
“We recognise that whenever disaster occurs, the most vulnerable bears the greatest consequence and we are working to ensure that no one is left behind during a disaster,” Anyaele said.
He commended CCD for making Abia its base for testing its initiatives, “and graciously, we have a government that is receptive to development interventions.”
The Acting Director, CCD, Mr Godwin Unumeri, said that the centre had been training policy makers and response organisations since it started intervention in the state about two years ago, but had not taken it down to the grassroots.
He said that the response by the participants confirmed that virtually all the local government response officers hardly knew anything about carrying PWDs along.
“So, the training was well planned and implemented as far as we are concerned, to the extent that many of them now know.
“They have also made commitments that they would, at least at a minimum, step down the training in their various organisations,” Unumeri said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop featured different presentations on ”Understanding Inclusive Disaster Preparedness and Why it Matters”, and the “Roles of LG in Protecting PWDs during Emergency”, among others.
A participant, Susan Onuoha, a Climate Change Desk Officer, Ohafia LGA, commended the organisers for the impactful training, and promised to ensure that PWDs in her area were carried along.
(NAN)
