Photo credit: GEF
More than 1 billion people, about 16 percent of the global population, lives with a significant disability, according to the World Health Organization. And many of those with disabilities are at high risk from natural disasters and environmental crises due to issues around mobility, sight, hearing, and communications access.
When the needs of people with disabilities are taken into account in environmental policymaking and planning, their access to vital resources and infrastructure services can be much improved, opening the door to significant contributions to environmental conservation and community development. This is what a GEF Small Grants Program project in Liberia has shown.
Support to the Mission of Hope for the Disabled, in Monrovia, Liberia, has changed lives throughout the community through improved water access, clean energy, and the empowerment and education of people with disabilities. Previously, residents needed to walk great distances to get water, causing disruption to school and work as well as gaps in basic sanitation needs. The GEF Small Grants Program project managed by UNDP resulted in a solar-powered water pump installed, improving quality of life across the community and enabling the maintenance of a vegetable garden managed by people with disabilities that generated earnings for the Mission of Hope. A second grant through the GEF Small Grants Program with UNDP resulted in the installation of solar panels to generate stable, clean power, and the set-up of a computer lab to enhance the learning of people with disabilities.
This project yielded much more than its primary goal related to renewable energy – it is showing that empowering people with disabilities can lead to better outcomes across the board. Victor Wilson, Director of the Mission of Hope for the Disabled, said the project’s results were “to empower those whom society has forgotten.”
Inclusion and partnership is core to the GEF’s approach into its ninth replenishment cycle, which will run from July 2026 to June 2030. This includes finding ways to support and ensure the full participation all stakeholders, including women, youth, and people with disabilities, in the pursuit of lasting environmental solutions supported by the GEF.
