Persons with disabilities disproportionately experience the harshest effects of changing climate and environmental degradation. In partnership with the Ford Foundation, the New Media Advocacy Plartform (NMAP) and the Media Awareness and Justice Initiative (MAJI) undertook research to identify opportunities to create new narratives that shift attitudes and mindsets about the interconnection between climate activists and the disability rights movement in the Niger Delta. The goal of this research was to build up a picture of the narrative landscape pertaining to disability rights and climate justice in the region, and to explore opportunities to advance cross-cause solidarity through collaborative narrative building.
NMAP conducted this research in partnership with Niger Delta-based MAJI in the latter part of 2022 through to the Spring of 2023 in the Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, and Rivers states of the Niger Delta region. Research participants included persons with disabilities (PWDs) and those working for climate civil society organizations (CSOs), and MAJI conducted both focus groups and listening sessions with these groups to gain insight into their experiences.
As the impact of climate change intensifies, not only do persons with disabilities disproportionately experience the harshest effects, more people are becoming disabled due to the short-and long-term impacts of changing climate and environmental degradation. This research has revealed the importance of investing the necessary resources, time, and dedication to remove barriers to a greater intersectional approach developing between these two movements. These will not only strengthen climate action, but will also further the cause of disability justice, which currently is disproportionately under-supported and granular.
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| narrative_change_around_disability_and_climate_change_-_nmap_and_maji.pdf | 16.1 MB |