Methodist Church in Fiji adopts groundbreaking disability and disaster management policies
The Methodist Church in Fiji (MCIF) has adopted policies to ensure church-wide approaches to inclusion of all people with disabilities, and to build the capacity of the church to prepare for and respond to disasters.
The first of their kind, the MCIF Disaster Risk Management Policy and MCIF Disability Inclusion Policy were adopted at the MCIF Conference in Suva this week.
Disaster Risk Management
The Disaster Risk Management policy will save lives, says MCIF President Rev Dr Semisi Turagavou:
“The adoption of the Disaster Risk Management policy is a critical step-in saving lives, alleviating suffering and minimising losses. Disaster risk management must be embraced at all levels from the families, churches, circuits, divisions and at national levels.”
As the country’s biggest church, MCIF is uniquely placed to complement the work of the Fiji Government and Fiji Red Cross to reach out across the country to help people prepare for disasters, and also provide practical assistance to people living in the most remote areas during and after cyclones and other events like floods and landslides.
As part of the new policy, all new buildings constructed by the MCIF must be engineer-certified to withstand Category 5 cyclones, so they can protect people who seek shelter there. Cyclone resistant crops should be planted to ensure consistent supply of food is available during disasters. Each family will be encouraged to have their own disaster and evacuation plan, so that all members share the same understanding of critical stages of evacuation as well as safe evacuation routes.
The inclusion of persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant mothers and the elderly in disaster and evacuation planning must be encouraged, and local wisdom from elders will be sought, particularly on traditional food preservation during power outages.
Disability Inclusion
While reporting on the number of people with disabilities is mandatory for all church and circuit meetings, most churches do not currently have ramps or specific spaces for wheelchair users. After surveying church leaders’ knowledge, attitudes and practices about disability, the results confirmed that there is low consideration of the needs of people with disabilities among MCIF Leaders at Divisional level. Change was needed in the approach of the entire church.
The Disability Inclusion policy will bless the whole church, says Rev Dr Turagavou:
“The church [has] recognised that a person with disability is like all humans… created as an image of God and not a matter of choice, but created by God to show his power and unequivocal love (John 9: 2-4). The Church as the God’s family on earth must therefore embrace ALL persons with disabilities and advocate for their care and equal treatment (Leviticus 19:14).
Persons with disabilities possess valuable gifts and talents which our Lord had blessed them with which can be valuable assets in our quest to save the souls of every Fijians. In that context we must, embrace and include them in all aspects of our service and program delivery.”
The objectives of the MCIF Disability Inclusion Policy are:
- Enable the inclusion of ALL persons with disabilities in all aspects of the Church, institutions, and functions.
- Provide accessible church infrastructure that will enable ALL persons with disabilities to attend freely.
- Embrace persons with disabilities in facilitation of services to meet their specific needs and demands during normal times and during calamities.
Both policies were developed with input from church members with expertise in each area, as well as government and other civil society representatives.
UnitingWorld has supported this work through the Resilient, Inclusive and Safe Churches and Communities project, which was endorsed by the MCIF 2023 Conference. The project supports the MCIF to develop and roll out policies and practices that support the inclusion of people with disabilities, safety and wellbeing of women and children, and disaster resilience in the face of climate change. The project builds on the theological resources on gender equality, child protection and disaster resilience that UnitingWorld has supported Pasifika theologians to develop over the last decade.
Pictured in header: Uniting Church in Australia President, Rev Charissa Suli, MCIF President Rev Dr Semisi Turagavou, and UnitingWorld National Director Dr Sureka Goringe at the MCIF Conference in Suva.
This project is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP). Thanks to ANCP, we’re making a huge difference together.