Disaster risk assessment essential - Dr Luveni

10/06/2011

Development can either reduce or increase people’s vulnerability or risks to disasters, therefore there is a greater need to integrate disaster risk assessment into development planning and programs to make development more resilient to natural hazards, says the Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation Dr Jiko Luveni.

She made these comments while opening the Disability Inclusiveness Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Workshop in Nasese .

The minister said Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) concerned the whole community and therefore it was important that vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities to be included in the management plans.

“Persons with disability have special needs but also have special abilities. Disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction considers how needs of persons with disability can be addressed and also how they can contribute to disaster risk reduction and disaster management,” Dr Luveni said.

“Understanding about disability and how persons with disability can be included in Disaster risk reduction is an important part of disaster planning and management.

“Social Justice is a component aligned to the Roadmap for Democracy and Sustainable Socio-economic Development (RDSSED) 2009 to 2014. The main purpose of social justice is basically to ensure equality of dignity, particularly for those who through no fault of their own are disadvantaged and destitute.

“Specific developments in the policy arena, further confirms the commitment by the State through the establishment of the FNCDP Act of (1994) and the Signing of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in (2010),” she said.

The Ministry of Social Welfare Women and Poverty Alleviation, is the government agency for vulnerable groups in society and administers programs that addresses women empowerment and child protection.
 
“These programs have also come to recognize, the importance of mobilizing an inclusive approach to addressing disaster risk reduction,” the minister said.

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