This year at COP30 in Belém, AAN proudly stood alongside global disability advocates as part of the Disability Climate Action Caucus. Our presence was an important reminder that climate justice cannot be achieved without recognizing the voices, rights, and solutions of persons with disabilities, including persons with albinism.
As the Pan-African Organization of Persons with Albinism, our active participation was unique. We represented a minority group highly impacted by climate change yet often excluded from the climate action dialogues. Our Executive Director, Bonface Massah, highlighted that a major focus of the Caucus was advocating for the recognition of disability as a standalone constituency within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) mechanisms, a crucial step for ensuring disability issues are formally addressed in global climate policy.
Gwen Mushonga, founder of the Alive Albinism Initiative, joined AAN team to share the lived experiences of women and girls with albinism to the global stage. Gwen shared her story and showcased her powerful artwork,
Throughout the week, AAN contributed to conversations that highlighted how climate change deepens existing inequalities. The sessions hosted by the Disability Rights Fund created space for people with disabilities from the Global South to share personal experiences and propose practical approaches for disability-inclusive climate adaptation. These exchanges reaffirmed the importance of ensuring that those directly affected by both climate impacts and structural discrimination shape the policies designed to protect them.
The Intersection of Human Rights and Climate Justice
A conversation that stood out for Bonface was focused on the intersection of human rights and climate change. He emphasized that climate change impacts are fundamentally a human rights issue, affecting access to education, health and livelihoods. He stressed that this link should be clear to climate change actors, noting, “You can’t separate climate change and human rights, we should be very intentional and realize that whatever we are doing in the climate change space, it’s a human rights issue.”
Bonface also reflected on the powerful women’s manifesto campaign, where Gwen participated alongside other women leaders, noting the energy and passion of women at COP30 speaking out about the challenges they face. He observed that women, especially those with disabilities, are often the most impacted by climate change yet rarely lead negotiation platforms and processes. He concluded that AAN’s deliberate inclusion of a woman with albinism in this discourse was critical step to ensure gender-responsive climate advocacy.
Art, Resilience, and the Lived Experience of Albinism
Gwen Mushonga represented AAN at two sessions that brought together the lived experiences of women and girls with diverse disabilities and ages, including older persons from the Global South, to show how climate change deepens exclusion while highlighting key factors that enable inclusive adaptation and meaningful participation in climate action.
A Metaphor for Empowerment
Gwen’s artwork, exhibited throughout the week and presented at the global women’s event, offered a powerful metaphor for resilience. Her pieces, created from discarded fabric scraps, transform the material into vibrant expressions of life. As she explained, she is trying to create social change by equating the fate of the scraps with the potential of persons with albinism: just as this discarded material can be given “new and beautiful life,” persons with albinism, when empowered and given equal opportunities, can also excel. Beyond its social message, Gwen’s art also highlights the environmental impact of fabric waste and promotes sustainability. By collecting unwanted fabric scraps from tailors and creating products that support environmental conservation, her work demonstrates how creative reuse can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and foster eco-friendliness. showcasing how artistic expression can advance both social justice and climate action. Gwen uses her art as an awareness tool to change the narrative, challenge the stigma around albinism, and advocate for social and economic rights.
The Health vs. Income Dilemma
Gwen highlighted the harsh reality faced by women with albinism: choosing between health or income. To avoid harmful sun exposure, they must adjust their daily activities, such as working in the fields, to early mornings or after sunset. This necessity, she noted, is often misinterpreted, leading to them being unfairly labelled as “lazy”. By sharing this experience, Gwen advocated for the world to realize that persons with albinism are a vulnerable, unique group that should be explicitly included in all climate change dialogues and policies.
Strategizing for Future Advocacy
AAN’s time at COP30 was also an opportunity to build new connections and strengthen existing partnerships.
Participating in the Disability Climate Action Caucus has reinforced our belief that climate responses must be inclusive by design. Bonface noted a significant gap: that most governments focus on “big things and interests” like carbon emissions and fossil fuel, largely missing the impact on investment in disability programs. He pointed out that climate financing priorities tend to favour large-scale projects like recycling plants, water pollution “They’re not really investing in creating… environmentally friendly vehicles or buses that are accessible for people with disabilities.”
COP30 was not only about representation, it was about building momentum. AAN identified key priorities for future advocacy by the disability caucus:
- Proactive Engagement: Starting negotiations and advocacy with governments and civil society well before COP 31.
- Identifying Champions: Targeting and strengthening relationships with governments of influence and regional representatives who already champion disability-inclusive policies in their national climate plans.
- Youth Leadership: Advocate for a stronger representation of youth with disabilities within the Youth Negotiators’ space to ensure their voices are heard directly in the negotiation spaces.
- Investing in Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs): Implementing strategies to invest in and train them to understand and effectively participate in the COP and other climate change platforms like the Africa Climate Summits and ensure active engagement in national level consultations.
Centering disability within climate policy is not optional, it is essential for adaptation efforts to reach those most at risk.
Gratitude and Commitment
Reflecting on COP30, we carry with us strengthened partnerships, shared purpose, and a renewed commitment to ensuring that the voices of persons with albinism are present and influential in global climate discussions.
We extend our deepest gratitude to the Disability Rights Fund (DRF) and the Global Greengrants Fund (GGF) for making our participation at COP30 possible. Their unwavering support and commitment to advancing disability rights and climate justice has empowered us to bring the voices of persons with disabilities to the global stage, ensuring that inclusion and equity remain at the heart of climate action. This collaboration reflects the transformative power of solidarity and shared vision in building a more just, resilient, and sustainable future for all.
