Ms Sara Minkara, US Special Advisor on International Disability Rights, on Friday in Abuja called on INEC and other major stakeholders to ensure inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) during the 2023 elections.
Minkara made the call during a roundtable engagement with the media as part of her working visit to Nigeria to enhance the implementation of electoral act for full participation of PWDs in the 2023 elections.
In her introductory speech, she stated that her visit is to see how her office can support the inclusivity of persons with disabilities in the general election come February, 2023.
“We are aware of the Electoral Act, which has some provisions around inclusivity and accessibility for PWDs. But how do we ensure that PWDs are able to participate fully? This is also an opportunity of bringing accessibility and inclusivity beyond the general elections. We want to bring PWDs to the table, their voices should be heard and they should be seen as source of value, not charity” she said.
“We are here to meet a wide range of stakeholders, the Minister of Labour, INEC Chairman, National Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Persons with disabilities, civil society groups and international organizations to see how we can support to add value to persons with disabilities” she added.
She commended the government for the amended Electoral Act that had accessibility of PWDs on section 54, calling for its full implementation and a budget attached to it.
“I understand that the polling units are not accessible, the schools that would be using for the elections are not accessible, how are they going to be made accessible, it is a win win situation, if the schools are made accessible as a result of elections, the schools would remain accessible”.
“We want to understand if budget is attached to the implementation of this inclusivity and whether persons with disabilities are part of the implementation”
“The training of electoral officers, security officers, are persons with disabilities part of the training, we want to ensure that the police officers and other security officers know how to interact with persons with disabilities to guarantee their safety during elections”.
She stressed the importance of free and fair elections accessible to all, while encouraging PWDs to actively participate in the political process.
According to her, the visit will enable her to take stock of Nigeria’s efforts to reshape the narrative around disability, their rights and their value when fully included in all sectors of society.
“One of the main reasons we are here is to talk about the upcoming general elections in 2023 and how we can support to make sure the elections are inclusive for PWDs”.
Ms. Minkara also want to see that the inclusivity and accessibility of PWDs during 2023 elections would be a catalyst for further engagement by PWDs to ensure that their issues are brought to the table and their voices heard.
She called on the media to assist in changing the narrative around the world where people sees disability from the angle of charity, stressing that 15% of every country’s population should be taken serious and when we are including them in the scheme of things, we are doing it for the good of the society.
“Disability should be involved in all our ministries, sectors, we should make sure that disability is mainstreaming in all we do, if you make a space for persons with disabilities, everyone benefit, inclusivity makes us to be more detailed”. She added.
