Jakarta, January 16, 2025 – Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia was invited as a speaker at a seminar organized by the Indonesian Christian Visually Impaired Association (PETKI) in Central Jakarta. The event aimed to discuss how climate change, as a global issue, significantly impacts human life and the importance of ensuring that the visually impaired community is not left behind in accessing information related to important global issues.

This event is a collaboration among civil society organizations (CSOs) to mainstream Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) as well as climate change issues. This initiative needs to be strengthened, considering the severe adverse impacts of climate change can disproportionately harm more vulnerable groups due to exclusive social systems.

In opening the event, Mahretta Maha, Chairperson of Regional Board of Directors (DPD) PETKI Jakarta, explained that PETKI exists to advocate for the rights of the visually impaired, who often face layered discrimination as minorities. She hopes this group can be more meaningfully involved in every policy value chain.

Muhammad Adzkia Farirahman, Research and Advocacy Program Staff at PWYP Indonesia, delivered materials in a way that is accessible for the visually impaired and sharing perspectives with participants on what the climate crisis is to find common ground with fulfilling the basic rights of people with disabilities.

The visually impaired participants expressed concerns about how climate crisis issues have not favored them historically. They often face disadvantages due to poor accessibility concerning climate change issues, often perceived as technocratic and distant, affecting only a few people.

It is noteworthy that gaps in information regarding development and climate crisis issues still exist, often leading many to perceive environmental issues like climate change as irrelevant to their lives. The collaboration between PWYP Indonesia and PETKI aims to change that perception and serve as an initial step in introducing global climate change issues to boost civil society participation.

Often, the impact of natural disasters that lead to new disabilities is rarely measured by policymakers. Therefore, climate change issues cannot be separated from natural resource management and must be addressed collectively, including by people with disabilities.

The seminar began by highlighting the three main crises currently faced by humanity: climate change, biodiversity loss, and depletion of natural resources. These crises arise from human activities, particularly the use of fossil energy resources that produce greenhouse gas emissions. To illustrate this, visually impaired participants were encouraged to understand graphs showing the rise in the earth’s average temperature and discuss its implications in their lives.

Unlike many other public discussions, the information delivery process in this event was tailored to the specific needs of the visually impaired participants.

PETKI helped translate the presentation materials into braille so that participants could engage with the content. Additionally, the material was delivered descriptively, especially when involving visual pointers. This was achieved through narration and encouraging participants to understand by using their bodies, for example, when explaining how a temperature rise graph from 1880-2020 reflects increases due to fossil fuel combustion by humans.

Given the importance of involving diverse disability groups in development policy, going forward, the involvement of the visually impaired also means promoting affirmative information openness and adopting inclusive approaches to ensure equal access to important information. This capacity building can be facilitated through collaboration within civil society networks.

This not only strengthens the position of people with disabilities but also ensures that their voices are heard and considered. Affirmative measures to open more inclusive discussion spaces can help overcome the structural barriers that have hindered their full participation in addressing global crises such as climate change.


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