By: Precious Miracle Kargbo
At the 16th Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COSP18), Her Excellency Madam Melrose Karminty, Minister of Social Welfare and Head of Delegation from Sierra Leone, delivered a compelling address highlighting the urgent intersection of climate change and disability rights.
Speaking to an international audience, Minister Karminty reframed climate change not only as an environmental issue but as a pressing human rights concern, particularly for persons with disabilities who are disproportionately impacted by extreme weather events and inadequate disaster response systems.
Citing the 2017 Freetown mudslide, she drew attention to the lack of accessible evacuation routes during the disaster.
“Extreme weather events threaten our most vulnerable communities,” she stated. “Rising temperatures and erratic climate patterns intensify health risks especially for those with mobility and respiratory conditions.”
Karminty warned that many climate adaptation efforts exclude people with disabilities, lacking accessible infrastructure, early warning systems, and inclusive planning.
“Climate Adaptation initiatives are often designed without considering accessibility,” she added, calling for inclusive shelters, personalized evacuation protocols, and multi-format alert systems, such as those using braille and sign language.
She also highlighted Sierra Leone’s efforts to mainstream disability inclusion into its national climate policies, including ongoing collaboration with civil society organizations and Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs). Key actions include refining the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) to be more inclusive.
One major initiative unveiled was the “Specially-Abled Village” project, which seeks to provide accessible housing, sustainable livelihood training, and mental health support for persons with disabilities impacted by climate change.
“Investing in resilient livelihoods for people with disabilities is not just a moral imperative it’s a development priority,” Karminty stated.
She aligned her message with the principles of the Berlin Amman Declaration2025, urging world leaders to embed disability inclusion into global frameworks like the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Calling for increased global funding and data disaggregation by disability, gender, and age, she emphasized the need for evidence-based, inclusive climate action.
“The climate crisis is a human rights crisis. Justice cannot be achieved without unity and we must center those most at risk,” Karminty declared.
Reaffirming Sierra Leone’s commitment to inclusive governance, she closed her address by invoking the powerful disability rights mantra: “Nothing about us without us.”
“Sierra Leone stands ready to co-create and lead, but we need global solidarity to turn commitments into action,” she concluded.