This chapter is about the lives of disabled people in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) who are facing the climate change-induced disasters, which are getting more and more frequent. This chapter on the intersection of scientific data about climate risks and personal narratives is the first to assert that disabled people are suffering because of climate change and poor sociocultural conditions. It highlights the fact that regional surveys and oral testimonies from Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands have uncovered the systemic, institutional, and historical reasons that not only limit disaster experience accessibility, poor communication systems, but also the exclusion from preparedness planning and the ongoing colonial and ableist legacies. Moreover, the chapter shows the survival and adaptation techniques relating to indigenous knowledge, community support, inclusive communication, and capability-based justice frameworks. The chapter that puts disability inclusion at resilience's very heart asserts that the Pacific should not only listen to but also involve the disabled persons’ voices, leadership, and local knowledge in the sustainable disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures’ implementation. In the end, the Pacific Islands must come up with ways of dealing with disasters that are culturally-rooted, society-consistent, and at the same time compatible with global protocols like the Sendai Framework and the Paris Agreement.

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Voices from the Islands: Oral Histories of Disabled Survivors

  • Sheena Mariam Thomas,
  • Ramakrishnan Veerabathiran

摘要

This chapter is about the lives of disabled people in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) who are facing the climate change-induced disasters, which are getting more and more frequent. This chapter on the intersection of scientific data about climate risks and personal narratives is the first to assert that disabled people are suffering because of climate change and poor sociocultural conditions. It highlights the fact that regional surveys and oral testimonies from Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands have uncovered the systemic, institutional, and historical reasons that not only limit disaster experience accessibility, poor communication systems, but also the exclusion from preparedness planning and the ongoing colonial and ableist legacies. Moreover, the chapter shows the survival and adaptation techniques relating to indigenous knowledge, community support, inclusive communication, and capability-based justice frameworks. The chapter that puts disability inclusion at resilience's very heart asserts that the Pacific should not only listen to but also involve the disabled persons’ voices, leadership, and local knowledge in the sustainable disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures’ implementation. In the end, the Pacific Islands must come up with ways of dealing with disasters that are culturally-rooted, society-consistent, and at the same time compatible with global protocols like the Sendai Framework and the Paris Agreement.