Religious Leaders, DIHA Project Volunteers empowered on Disability Inclusive Humanitarian Actions, Disaster Risk Preparedness
Some 35 religious leaders from the Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian and Moslem faiths together with some persons with disabilities have been empowered with knowledge on Inclusive
Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Risk Preparedness. The training that took place from June 7 – 9, 2022 at the Pastoral Center, Bamenda and was organized by the CBC Health Services in collaboration with CBM within the context of the Disability Inclusive Humanitarian Action (DIHA) Project.
With the ongoing crisis in the North West Region, the DIHA project is fostering disability inclusion in humanitarian actions and religious leaders are playing a critical role in providing humanitarian relief in the communities. Given the widespread presence and critical roles that religious leaders play in providing humanitarian relief in the communities, the workshop was therefore organized to strengthen their capacities on inclusive humanitarian Aid and Disaster preparedness.
During the workshop, the religious leaders were told that the Disability Inclusive Humanitarian Project is out to promote inclusive access to humanitarian services by affected populations with special attention on the rights and needs of persons with disabilities. Among other things they were told that the project partners with stakeholders including them as they are key to ensuring that persons with disabilities benefit from the activities of all humanitarian activities in the communities.
The clergy also received knowledge on disability types and models, the rights of persons with disabilities as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and safeguarding in the crisis context.
Presenting on Humanitarian Principles and Inclusive Humanitarian Aid, the CBM Country Office Humanitarian Coordinator, Isaac Nyengue – Bahanak told participants that to ensure that persons with disabilities benefit from humanitarian aid, they should take measures such as including persons with disabilities in decision making meetings, collecting disability disaggregated data, ensuring access to venues, structures and information, assessing and meeting the specific needs of persons with disabilities, etc. The expert encouraged the religious leaders to respect humanitarian principles as they carry out their activities.
Luma Innocent Itoe, National Instructor and Disaster Manager with the Cameroon Red Cross, guiding participants on Disaster Risk Management, explained that a disaster is a calamitous event resulting in loss of life, great human suffering and distress, and large-scale material damage. He noted that disaster preparedness is very important within the context of the ongoing crisis and that community stakeholders are supposed to put in place operational measures to deal with disasters in order to save human lives, alleviate human suffering and reduce the effects/consequences.
On the sidelines of the workshop for religious leaders was that for some 71 Volunteers working with the DIHA Project who received the same knowledge with the same objective. The workshop, which held in the same venue was also aimed at refreshing the capacities of the Volunteers on inclusive humanitarian aid. They are expected to use the knowledge gained on disaster Risk preparedness to communicate and sensitize their communities on potential risk occurrence and assist in identifying mitigating strategies.
Welcoming participants to both workshops, the DIHA Project Manager and CBC Health Services Coordinator of Services for Persons with Disabilities, Jacques Chirac Awa thanked them for sacrificing time to attend the workshops. He urged them to take advantage of the facilitators at their disposal to gain knowledge that will be helpful to their communities.
At the end of the workshop, the participants agreed to go back and share knowledge gained with their colleagues and influential stakeholders, liaise with DIHA field staff and OPDs for the identification and inclusion of persons with disabilities and carry out advocacy at institutional levels for the inclusion of persons with disabilities.
In his closing remarks, the CBM Country Humanitarian Coordinator thanked the participants for the time they sacrificed to attend the training. He called on them to make the training meaningful by putting to practice in their communities, knowledge gained during the workshop. He told them to be the first psychologists in their communities.