Online Reporter
Disability Issues
Dr Christine Peta
TODAY, September 28, Zimbabwe joins the global community in commemorating the International Day for Universal Access to Information.
The 2025 theme is “Ensuring Access to Environmental Information in the Digital Age”.
It highlights the importance of timely, comprehensive and cross-border access to environmental information in an increasingly digital world.
This year’s focus underscores the need for environmental data — covering climate change, pollution, biodiversity and disaster risks — to be made available in formats accessible to persons with disabilities, including sign language, braille and simplified text.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities guarantees the right to seek, receive and impart information on an equal basis, including through accessible formats.
However, a recent global survey revealed that, while 127 out of 195 countries have laws on access to information, only 37 explicitly mention persons with disabilities.
Even more concerning, just 11 countries require the information to be provided in accessible formats such as sign language or braille.
As a result, many environmental alerts — such as flood warnings and air quality advisories — are not delivered in formats accessible to persons with disabilities.
This lack of inclusive communication delays or prevents timely action, especially during natural disasters or climate emergencies.
Emergency shelters, transportation systems and evacuation routes often lack ramps, tactile guides or trained support staff.
During disasters, some persons with disabilities may be unable to flee and are left behind, increasing their risk of injury or death.
Moreover, many persons with disabilities have pre-existing health conditions that make them more vulnerable to environmental hazards like pollution, heatwaves and contaminated water.
Poor air quality, for instance, can severely affect individuals with respiratory or neurological impairments.
Persons with disabilities are also more likely to live in poverty, informal settlements or areas with poor environmental conditions.
They often lack access to insurance, healthcare or legal protection, making recovery from environmental harm even more difficult.
Way forward
Addressing these inequalities requires inclusive planning, accessible communication and the active, meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in environmental governance.
Timely and accessible environmental information empowers individuals to understand risks, make informed decisions and protect their health and livelihoods.
Disability-inclusive disaster preparedness and early warning systems — covering weather, seismic activity and air quality — can save lives.
Global frameworks such as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction all call for transparent, shared environmental data to track progress and ensure compliance.
Environmental information should not be confined within national borders.
Issues like climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss are inherently transboundary.
Global systems such as satellite monitoring rely on data from multiple countries to issue accurate alerts.
Regional collaboration — for example, among Southern African nations — can enhance joint monitoring of ecosystems, wildlife migration and disaster risks.
Shared data enables coordinated, disability-inclusive responses to droughts, floods and disease outbreaks.
The reality is that air pollution, water contamination and climate change do not respect national boundaries.
Carbon emissions in one country affect global climate patterns.
Deforestation in the Amazon can alter rainfall across continents, impacting the well-being of both persons with and without disabilities.
Disability-inclusive environmental data is a global public good.
Restricting it to national silos undermines collective action, scientific progress and human rights.
Collaboration, transparency and innovation in the global sharing of accessible information are essential.
Open data fosters collaboration among researchers, leading to better disability-inclusive models, predictions and technologies.
It allows for cross-validation, comparative studies and improved reliability of findings.
As climate impacts intensify, so do disparities in resilience and recovery between persons with and without disabilities.
Without targeted adaptation strategies, persons with disabilities will continue to bear the brunt of environmental degradation.
Dr Christine Peta is a disability, public health, policy, international development and research expert. She can be contacted on: [email protected]
Bongani Ndlovu