By Lovemore Rambiyawo
Cyclone Idai has come and gone, leaving a trail of cataclysmic physical and human damage in the seven districts of Chipinge, Chimanimani, Buhera, Bikita, Mutare, Gutu, and Chiredzi.
[…]
As Zimbabwe continues to forge ahead with the daunting task of “building back better” after the disaster of epic proportions, the country runs the risk of excluding that extremely marginalised group that it has systematically excluded from its initial disaster mitigation efforts — people with disabilities (PWDs).
[…]
The 2,6 million people with disabilities (PWDs) in Zimbabwe (15 percent of Zimbabwe’s total population), in common with PWDs worldwide, who suffer from a documented lack of access to fundamental freedoms and rights across the entire social, economic, political and cultural spectrum that other people in society take for granted, encounter veritable hurdles at every Disaster Risk Management level.
[…]
Lack of recognition of disability differences and their specific needs is exacerbated in natural disasters. Lack of a twin-track approach in disaster management — ensuring that PWDs have full access to relief operations, DRR policies and conflict prevention/mitigation programmes by removing barriers, and at the same time, addressing specific requirements through more individualised support for PWDs with high dependency needs compound the problem.
[…]