As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), the federal government has been urged to formulate policies that are not disability blind so that the needs and aspirations of PWDs can be met.
The Gender Equality and Inclusion Manager, at Plan International Nigeria, Chinelo Amaechina, who made the call said that PWDs faced a lot of challenges while calling on stakeholders at all levels to come to their aid in addressing those challenges.
“When it comes to employment, some of them are not considered on the basis of disability, when it comes to creating an accessible world like offices, public places and the rest of them, they’re not being considered,” she said.
“Also, when it comes to education, sometimes you see some schools are actually designated for persons with disability but there’s no inclusion of PWDs in other schools, they are just kind of segregated and more importantly, some of them are being stigmatised and discriminated against. And that’s actually killing and discriminating against PWDs,” she added.
She stated this at an event to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), tagged, ‘Movement Beyond Walls:’The Art of Bridging Gender and Disability,’ organized by Plan International Nigeria in collaboration with Christian Release Services (CRS), Oxfam and others to strengthen the demands for the inclusion of PWDs in various government activities.
Amaechina said the PWDs are using the international day to share their worries and concerns using the Arts words to explain to the world that there was need for them to be included in programmes, processes and what organisations and government is doing.
She noted that these persons should actually be called on the table when policies are being developed so they can also bring the issues and how they are being affected and how It can be solved.
“Doing this will bring out solutions to their problems,” she added.
On her part, the Co-convener Movement Beyond Word (MBW), and one of the persons with disabilities, Pelemo Nyajo called for the scaling up of disability inclusion to address the needs of PWDs irrespective of their location.
Speaking on the Disability Acts, she said having an act was not enough but ensuring that the act is being implemented would address the needs of PWDs.
“We have disability Acts but we have lack of implementation and I think that apart from a governmental level where it’s supposed to be implemented, it can be done on a communal and societal level.
“Efforts in this event is for us to get inclusion in little spaces from community and in people and I think that will spur people to become allies and to really understand what the fight is really for,” she said.
She appealed to the government to create safe spaces for PWDs for conversations around their demands while also ensuring the implementation of the acts that already exist.
Also, Olawunmi Gbolahan, Programme Coordinator for Women Equality and Gender Equality, Oxfam Nigeria, said PWDs were usually abused mostly by the people closer to them.
Gbolahan called for autonomy for PWDs to make decisions on issues affecting them as everything about their life, everything about what happens around them or their existence is being decided by someone.
“It might come from a place of love, but at some point you need to understand that they also have the right and autonomy to make decisions by themselves.
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