Disability inclusion takes a leading role in Timor-Leste

Angelina da Costa is used to the risks nature poses to her remote community in Aileu municipality, Timor-Leste. As someone with a disability, she knows she is particularly at risk when a disaster occurs.

That’s why she has taken a leadership role in helping others in Faturilau village prepare for natural disasters, as part of the Disaster READY Project.

“There is a risk of disasters here – strong winds, heavy rainfall, flooded rivers and landslides,” she said. “Floods can wash away our farm animals, and even people.”

She recently took part in a training session of the Faturilau Suco Disaster Management Committee to improve the community’s ability to cope with the next disaster and to minimise the risks to the villagers, their stock and their farms.

Angelina addresses the Suco Disaster Management Committee in Faturilau, Timor-Leste. IMAGE: John Henzell 

The session began with “risk mapping” – identifying which places in and around Faturilau were particularly vulnerable to events like strong winds, floods and landslides.

The nearby health centre is an example of this. In a recent rainy season, the slope below the newly-built centre began to slide down towards the river. The building was saved when the slope was stabilised by building a series of gabion walls – wire nets filled with locally-sourced rocks – in the midst of the slip.

Other parts of the training including using megaphones to warn villages of risks, installing a warning sign at the river crossing between the village and neighbouring settlements advising when the river is too high to be crossed safely, and clarifying who will play what role in the response when the next disaster inevitably occurs.

Angelina da Costa (far left) at a flood-risk measurement sign with other members of the Suco Disaster Management Committee in Faturilau, Aileu IMAGE: John Henzell

Angelina said she found the training useful and it made her confident that the community of Faturilau will be better placed to cope with whatever nature throws at them.

“The Disaster READY Project’s programme is good because persons with disabilities are included in this training,” she said.

“Also, they brought male and female people with disabilities to train us on disaster risk reduction, because we are most vulnerable when disasters occur.”

The Disaster READY project is part of the Australian Humanitarian Partnership, funded by the Australian Government and working with PLAN, CARE International in Timor-Leste, Caritas Australia (CAN DO), Oxfam and World Vision Timor-Leste.

Ra’es Hadomi Timor Oan, the national organisation representing persons with disabilities, are also involved in the Disaster READY Project.

The disaster preparedness planning meeting at Faturilau was run in partnership with the Timor-Leste Government’s Civil Protection Secretariat, under the Ministry of Interior. Besides training sessions like this, the Suco Disaster Management Committee also works on creating disaster risk-reduction plans and proposal writing to ensure the community has the resources it needs to prosper.

Angelina’s participation in the Suco Disaster Management Committee reflects the deliberate effort to ensure they reflect their communities.

With the Disaster READY Project operating in most of Timor-Leste’s municipalities, women make up more than a quarter of committee members and nearly half of the committees include persons with disabilities.