Persons with disabilities are as much a part of society as the rest of us, and when it comes to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, they cannot and should not be left behind. With this message, a workshop titled “Building Resilience for Persons with Disabilities in Bangladesh: Consultation on Disability inclusive Early Warning System, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA)” was organised at a Dhaka hotel on May 28, 2019 by United Nations Development Programme in Bangladesh (UNDP) and Centre for Disability in Development (CDD).
“CDD wants to make the lives of disabled persons better, and so far Bangladesh has been exemplary in disaster management. Now it is time to make sure that disaster management in inclusive in every step, from warning to recovery.” said AHM Noman Khan, executive director of CDD.
“Disability is a central focus for us. We are trying to include the perspective of persons with disability in the context of Bangladeshi policies and intervention.” said Arif Abdullah Khan, program specialist (climate change & disaster risk management) at UNDP.
Multiple persons with disability were present at the workshop, who gave their valuable opinion on disaster risk management. They said that inclusivity should not be a standalone goal, rather it should be ensured at every stage to build back better.
