Empowerment for the mitigation against the adverse effects of Disaster and HIV/AIDS among People Living with Disability in Botswana
Keywords:
empowerment, HIV/AIDS, people living with disability, DisasterAbstract
The global village is overwhelmed by disasters coupled with other threats such as HIV and AIDS which continue to challenge human populations, in particular people living with disability. This review explores ways in which this group of the population in Botswana can be empowered to mitigate the adverse effects of disasters. Evidence from the authors’ work in this field as well as existing literature is used to support some of the arguments raised. The main tenet is that people living with disabilities in Botswana are secondary targets of services and programmes and they are not adequately empowered. The work highlights several methods of increasing resilience to disaster situations and related challenges for this population group to include among others the inclusion of people living with disability in disaster risk management to enable them to reduce their vulnerability and build their capacity. There is need for community based capacity building (special training), comprehensive disaster related information to suit people living with disability and HIV and AIDS, and designing relevant early warning systems.
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