Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) are regarded as one of the minorities and marginalised groups and highly vulnerable to disasters, especially landslides (Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery [GRDRR] 2017). People with disabilities represent about 12% of the world’s population (Bongo, Dziruni & Muzenda-Mudavanhu 2018). The American Disability Act (1990) defines an individual with a disability as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment (United States Department of Justice [USDJ] 2020). Also, United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) (2010) describes PWDs as those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others (Rohwerder 2015; UN 2010). Also, disabilities include those with difficulty in the body functions, for example, difficulty in hearing, difficulty in speaking and conveying messages, difficulty in moving around and using other body parts, difficulty in seeing, strange behaviour, epilepsy, difficulty in learning, Leprosy as also listed (NICHCY 2012). The Uganda National Policy on Disability 2006, describes PWDs as people with permanent and substantial functional limitation of daily life activities caused by physical, mental or sensory impairment and environmental barriers resulting in limited participations (Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development [MGLSD] 2006). It includes all people with difficulty in seeing, hearing, speaking and conveying messages, difficulty moving around and using other body parts, epilepsy, strange behaviour, leprosy, difficulty in learning, loss of feeling and multiple or a combination of two or more other disabilities.

Globally, PWDs normally live in isolated locations due to stigma and discrimination attached to disability (WHO 2011). This makes it harder to reach them with support during and after the hazard (Gomathy 2015; WID 2018). The key elements at risk are the homes and lives of PWDs. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) of 2015 emphasises full participation of PWDs in the community programmes to enhance their resilience towards disasters (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction [UNISDR] 2015). This is because, there is a strong association between disability and disaster impact in most communities (Gutnik & Roth 2018; Hosseinpoor et al. 2013). Monitoring the risk exposure of PWDs to climate-induced landslide disasters remains one of the most critical concerns because of the high and disproportionate risk PWDs encounter in the face of risks and humanitarian emergencies.

In Uganda, the total number of PWDs is estimated to be more than 4.4 million with Bududa district having a higher disability prevalence averaged at 15.2% (Uganda Bureau of Statistics [UBOS] 2019). However, the district lies in the Mount Elgon region, a hotspot for steep slopes and a series of landslide hazards (Namono et al. 2019). The estimated number of deaths due to landslides in half a century around Mount Elgon is more than 500 (Kitutu 2010; Nakileza et al. 2017). Although the number of PWDs has not always been brought out among landslide-affected victims, several studies have revealed that disasters double the impact when it comes to PWDs (Cerimovic & Rall 2021; International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) 2021; UN 2018; UNDP India 2012; UNISDR 2014). This has made many unknown lives of PWDs perish without documentation because these are largely ignored by society (IFRC 2021; UN 2018).

Disaster impact on PWDs worsens in areas with rugged terrain where accessing appropriate transport, logistics, and evacuation warnings become harder (WID 2018). In the face of inaccessibility and landslide hazards, PWDs are not able to access personal support networks (including family, friends, or paid caregivers) for well-being and independence due to difficulties in moving, seeing, and hearing, among others (Bagonza 2014; WID 2018). Altitude, stream power for the flowing water, slope angle, hillslope position, curvature, and slope aspect are the major factors underpinning landslide susceptibility (Bamutaze 2019; Kozak, Ostapowicz & Bytnerowicz 2013; Nohani et al. 2019).

The National Inclusive Planning Guideline for Uganda caters for only PWDs affected by constructions and refugees for resettlement and less interest is put on those who are affected by disasters (NPA 2017). Lord et al. (2016) states that PWDs suffer consequences of disasters uniquely depending on the disability. There is a need to avail information and knowledge regarding the susceptibility of PWDs to landslide risk in Bushika sub-county, the epicentre of landslide occurrence to advocate for the prioritisation of PWDs in resettlement programmes for landslide victims launched by the government (IFRC 2021; Wambede & Kolyangha 2019). Our objective was to use Geographical Information Systems (GIS) tool and map the susceptibility of PWDs to landslide hazards and investigate the perceived disparity of landslide effect with the disability category.

The higher numbers of PWDs were living in high-risk areas with altitude, slope gradient, slope aspect, and SPI ranging from 1400 m.a.s.l to 1700 m.a.s.l especially midslopes, 9° to 26°, S-E to S-W, and 12–19 respectively. The dwelling locations for majority of PWDs were recorded at slope angle and altitude ranging from 11° to 31° and 1500 m.a.s.l to 1900 m.a.s.l., respectively. These ranges are in line with those Bamutaze (2019) revealed as sites with the highest prevalence of landslides during his study on morphometric conditions underpinning the spatial and temporal dynamics of landslide hazards on the volcanic Mount Elgon, Eastern Uganda. With aspect, PWDs lived on slopes facing S-E and S-W which are highly susceptible to landslides as revealed by Nakileza and Nedala (2020). Concerning susceptibility to erosion and gulley formation at their places of living, the bulk of the PWDs lived in locations with SPI beyond > 10 with higher erosive power of the flowing water in the streams, thus higher chances of gully formation and consequently becoming susceptible to landslides. The bulk of PWDs lived in sites with planar curvature indices of –0.804 to –0.129 which were noted by Nakileza and Nedala (2020) as highly susceptible to landslides in their study of topographic influence on landslides characteristics and implication for risk management in Mount Elgon. Sites with negative planar curvature indices cause materials to converge, thus escalding water running consequently triggering debris flow downhill. Such sites are highly risky for settlement by PWDs. Although, Neema et al. (2018) revealed that low-lying locations and trading centres in Bududa are safer with low landslide risks, some PWDs have homes in middle and foot slope places because that is the land they can afford. The study results are in line with a baseline study by Uganda National Action on Physical Disability (UNAPD) (2016) where PWDs indicated that they stay uphill with high-risk locations of landslides in Mount Elgon area. In addition, during his study on gender and vulnerability to disasters, Bagonza (2014) also observed that many people construct houses and settle on high-risk hills in Uganda. According to Neema et al. (2018), people continue to settle in the high-risk areas, because people seem to be uncertain and have mistrust in the implementation of the resettlement programmes, especially on issues of compensation for land lost. The first-ever UN global survey of persons living with disabilities UNISDR (2014) revealed that PWDs are rarely consulted about their needs in potential disaster situations and thus excluded from the planning and decision-making of such processes. The higher number of the peasantry, poverty levels, and failure to afford safer places also account for the consistent settlement of PWDs in high-risk areas. The discrimination by society precisely accounts for settlement in isolated areas. However, these hard-to-reach areas make it difficult to receive the services, information, resources including early warnings and recovery as echoed by the PWDs and their leaders.

Findings on the variation of landslide effect where the blind and Deaf were perceived as most affected by the landslide hazards corroborate those of Madanian et al. (2018) and Lord et al. (2016). They have also found out that people with visual impairment, and particularly the older adults are most affected in times of crisis and emergency especially earthquakes and landslides that vibrate and shake land thus causing more tension. Furthermore, a report by ENPCM (2017), also found similar results that people with visual impairment have a greater susceptibility to a variety of hazards and potential threats in daily life. This is explained by a higher risk of stress reactions and social isolation in case of crisis. The results on the disproportionate damages caused by landslides are in line with the findings by Twigg et al. (2018). The difference in the impact of landslides on the different PWDs categories is attributed to the dissimilarity in the societal and formal discrimination, disregarding, and exploitation experienced by PWDs in disasters.

Persons with disabilities live in risky areas and yet these are highly affected during a landslide crisis. The blind and Deaf-blind were perceived as most affected by landslides hazards. Therefore, blind and deaf-blind persons should be prioritised for relocation to safer areas within their ancestral district due to cultural attachment and fertile soils. In addition, landslide prone areas such as Bududa, disaster programs and committees at village should include PWDs to further strengthen awareness, inclusion, access to early warning information, disaster survival tips during hence strengthening their resilience to these recurrent landslides.