Rebuilding With Inclusion: Tonga Enhances Support for People With Disabilities

10 Dec Rebuilding With Inclusion: Tonga Enhances Support for People With Disabilities

2021/03/26 – The right to a dignified and fulfilling life is universal. For people living with disabilities, this principle must not be conditional. It is the responsibility of every society to ensure that all citizens can participate fully in daily life, access essential services, and enjoy the same freedoms as their peers.

Yet in Tonga, where extreme weather events and natural disasters are becoming increasingly frequent, rebuilding efforts have often overlooked the needs of people with limited mobility. Homes and community infrastructure are frequently restored without consideration for accessibility, leaving people with disabilities at heightened risk during emergencies and constraining their quality of life long after disasters pass.

A new partnership aims to change that. MORDI Tonga, supported by CARE and funded by the Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs, has joined forces with the Ministry of Health’s Rehabilitation Department and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help people with disabilities better integrate into their communities. Together, the organizations have launched an initiative to improve mobility and access for households in some of Tonga’s most isolated outer islands.

In Fotuha‘a, a remote raised coral atoll in the Ha‘apai group known for its hazardous coastline and lack of a proper wharf, the community identified three families in urgent need of support. The island, home to fewer than 100 people across 23 households, presents daily mobility challenges that are magnified for people with disabilities. Similarly, in Hunga, Vava‘u—where 232 residents live amid rugged terrain—community leaders noted a number of individuals facing mobility constraints, including elderly residents, amputees, and a polio survivor.

For these households, limited mobility has long been exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and homes not designed with accessibility in mind. Under the new program, families have now received custom-built ramps to allow safer, easier movement in and out of their homes. These seemingly simple additions are transforming the lives of residents who can now participate more fully in community life.

The household ramps initiative builds upon previous efforts, including the Hunga Road project—a collaboration between IFAD, MORDI Tonga, the Government of India, and the community of Hunga—to establish a critical link from farmland to the Vava‘u mainland. That road not only improved market access but also opened opportunities for people with disabilities who had long been isolated by geography.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints further contributed to the current effort by donating wheelchairs to the Ministry of Health’s Rehabilitation Department, whose specialists assessed and distributed the equipment according to individual needs. MORDI Tonga, through its project with CARE and BHA, facilitated the provision of materials and coordinated implementation with Town and District Officers.

Beyond physical improvements, the initiative underscores a broader commitment to weaving gender and disability inclusion into disaster risk management, climate adaptation, and community planning. For MORDI Tonga, these activities are central to the development of Community Development Plans, ensuring that vulnerable groups are not only acknowledged but prioritized in the country’s path toward resilience.

As Tonga continues to confront the challenges of climate change, partnerships like this demonstrate that rebuilding is not just about restoring structures—it’s about restoring dignity, championing equality, and ensuring that no one is left behind.