Families displaced by flooding in Fangak County of Jonglei State cram themselves on heaps of papyrus leaves as the entire area sinks underwater. (-)

As South Sudan grapples with the devastating impacts of flooding, individuals with disabilities are calling for their inclusion in the flood preparedness and response plan.

Chairperson of the Association of Persons with Disabilities Augustino Wudu says persons with disabilities will face a lot of challenges in terms of mobility during evacuation or relocation during floods.

He emphasizes on the need to ensure persons with disabilities are included in the preparedness and response plan to address the anticipated floods.

Wudu made the remarks in a roundtable discussion today in Juba.

“These states are mostly affected in terms of preparedness and relocation, people without disabilities will make it to safe places or upper grounds but for people with disabilities,” said Wudu.

“It will not be easy considering the nature of the disability. That is why I always say there is a need to pay extra care in issues of floods and persons with disabilities,” she said.

Meanwhile, some person with disabilities in Juba also joined their voices in the call for Inclusion.

Rebecca Thon emphasized the importance of including persons with disabilities in flood preparedness programs.

“It is important to include persons with disabilities in issues of flooding and climate change because we see that if we are not included some of us might die for not having enough preparedness,” said Rebecca.

“The UN Convention on the Rights of person with disability talks about the importance of urgencies and protection of persons with disability during flooding and other natural disasters,” she said.

Mary Sabun stated that persons with disabilities are among those most severely affected by flooding.

“Persons with disability are most affected and it hinders their movement so the impact is even double on the persons with disability, especially women,” she said.

For his part, Civil Society Activist Edmond Yakani says it is important to consider the aspect of communication of early warning messages to persons with disabilities, citing the different types of disabilities.

“We are aware that this flood is not phase 1, it is the third or fourth phase affecting the country. As the country is facing these flood challenges we have a section of our society who have different types of disabilities,” said Yakani.

“The number 1 concern comes in terms of messages if the community is getting messages within the parameters of flood response, are we having messages specifically directed to the population of persons with disability? he said.

“Remember there are different types of disabilities as communication is concerned, some use brails and others use sign language,” he stated.