The exclusive Mountain View Guest House located at the foot of Jiyep Hill, off Yakubu Gowon Way Jos, was the venue of a 2-day capacity building workshop for over 50 persons with disability (PWD) on climate change response, advocacy and disaster preparedness on Tuesday 5th & Wednesday 6th May, 2026.
Organized by Equal Basis Development Initiative (EBDI), whose mandate is to promote the welfare of pyersons living with disabilities, while anchoring it on climate change on the premise that people with disabilities are the most affected by climate change, the programme which is funded by Disability Rights Fund is a major inroad by the climate change response network into the PWD Community as it introduced PWDs into climate change concepts such as: local hazards & PWD vulnerability, hazard mapping, household adaptation, livelihoods & farming, personal planning, disaster cycle, evacuation & warning, simulation drill, shelters & response teams, advocacy & CPRD (Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), and stakeholder mapping.
The rich faculty of trainers included Mr. Moses Okpe of NEMA (National Emergency Management Agency), Mr. Zeenret Zamani of MESDI (Murya Na Environmental Sustainability & Development Initiative) and EBDI management namely Mr. Bitrus Sauta and Mr. Adedotu Kayode Adetula.
They all taught the PWDs passionately on how EBDI and the PWD Community will deliver on their immediate goal of institutionalising disability inclusion in climate change policies, disaster preparedness and climate action programming in Plateau State through policy reform, advocacy, capacity building and awareness.
The climax of the Workshop was the selection of 30 participants that will form the PWD Plateau State Climate Action Network, and the presentation of proposals for micro projects by the participants which were centred round procurement of food storage facilities, provision of relief materials, flood disaster preparations, development of braile materials for climate change response advocacy, tree planting, drainages construction, advocacies at community and inter-govermental levels, establishment of disability friendly emergency centres.
Participants who were full of appreciation to EBDI for this initiative stressed the benefits of this new information that has armed them with what will save lives from avoidable disasters. Participants were at the end presented with training manuals by the Executive Director of EBDI, Mrs. Patricia Pam described the end of the training as the ‘beginning of work’. To the PWD Community in Plateau State, climate change is real, but the resilience is stronger!
Luca Atukpa-Elayo
Reporting for Lucmarie Media #Tudunwadabroadcast
