by Chris Agbo,
Count Disability Nigeria, a coalition of four organizations of persons with disabilities, with Disability Rights Advocacy Center (DRAC) the lead organization and other organizations: Disability Is Not A Barrier Initiative (DINABI), Mimijean Foundation and Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) Anambra is currently implementing a project titled #CountDisability to advocate for disability disaggregated data in Nigeria in order to enhance the inclusion of persons with disabilities in national development.
On June 1-2, 2021, the Count Disability Nigeria (CDN) coalition, sponsored by Disability Rights Fund (DRF) and in collaboration with National Commission for Persons with Disabilities organized a 2-Day Technical Meeting to build consensus for development of a framework for a White Paper on Disability Disaggregated Data.
The lead convener of the coalition, Dr. Irene Ojiugo Patrick-Ogbogu in her welcoming remarks stated the objective of the project as strengthening the capacity of persons with disabilities and duty bearers to understand, collect, analyze and report disability data using the Washington Group Questions (WGQ), and to advocate and engage with policy makers to commit to the collection, availability and use of disability data for decision making. She encouraged relevant stakeholders in Nigeria to “Count Disability.” She explained this to mean that efforts towards collecting disability disaggregated data and using the data for planning and decision making should be priotized in all sectors in Nigeria.
It is apparent that persons with disabilities have been left behind in development agenda and the reason can be attributed to the fact that there is dearth of adequate statistics on information pertaining to persons with disabilities and the challenges they face.
Without disaggregated data, there cannot be improved planning and budgeting for persons with disabilities and this results in consistent exclusion of persons with disabilities in development agenda in Nigeria.
Speaking further, she emphasized that in 2018, Nigeria made some commitments at the Global Disability Summit (GDS) to making sure data and information is collected in the right way using the Washington Groups of Questions. The coalition is therefore demanding for accountability from the Nigerian government as it relates to the GDS commitments.
Dr Irene further said the meeting was to review the findings made by the consultant, Dr Adebayo, whom the coalition engaged to develop a white paper that will form as a tool for advocacy, to be used to call the Nigerian government to action towards the implementation of commitments made at GDS.
The Executive Secretary, National Commission For Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD), Mr James Lalu, in his speech while appreciating the coalition for the great initiative emphasized the importance of availability of data to inform public policy and programming. Lamenting the critical implications of unavailability of data, he mentioned that it has always posed a great challenge whenever the commission attempts to engage ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in Nigeria on the inclusion of persons with disabilities. He cited particularly a recent example of how it was extremely difficult to advocate for persons with disabilities to be included in the COVID-19 intervention fund as a result of unavailability of disaggregated data of persons with disabilities.
He reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to continuing partnership with organizations like DRAC and other organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) in ensuring that efforts at disaggregating data of persons with disabilities is achieved.
The National President, Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Ekaete Judith Umoh, in her goodwill message hailed the initiative and pledged to work with the outcome of the white paper that would be developed at the end of the meeting. She recounted how lack of data have impeded the success of various advocacies planned by the association.
She also expressed her disappointment at Nigerian government inability to fulfill the commitments made during the 2018 GDS.
The representative of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Dr Bilkisu Dalhatu in her goodwill message said that the organization always prioritizes the needs of persons with disabilities. She promised that her commission would be willing to work with recommendations from the white paper which would be developed at the end of the meeting. Anticipating the outcome of the development of the white paper, she was excited that the efforts would equip the National Identification Number (NIN) on how PWDs can be properly captured during their official exercises.
She proposed to take advantage of the workshop to register participants who were yet to get their NIN, a request that was granted by the organizers. The capturing took place on Day 2 of the workshop.
While expressing his gratitude for the invitation during his goodwill message, Emeka Oliver Mezue from National Population Commission (NPC) said his participation in the meeting came in the right time as the NPC is currently preparing for the next National Census and that the white paper would be of immense help in assisting the commission in having an inclusive census exercise.
Other organizations duly represented such as NHIS, NPHCDA and the SDG office also committed to adopting the recommendation from the white paper.
The consultant Dr Adebukola Adebayo while presenting the report on progress appraisal of implementation of GDS commitments explained that inclusion is the guiding principle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which includes the pledge to leave no one behind and to create a “just, equitable, tolerant, open and socially inclusive world in which the needs of the most vulnerable are met”. The commitment to inclusion specifically addresses persons with disabilities and is consistent with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Adopted in 2016, the CRPD affirms equal rights for all people, regardless of their disability status, and puts forth a development agenda for ensuring full inclusion in all aspects of society.
Ensuring that no one is left behind requires accurate and timely monitoring of persons with disabilities. This requires the routine collection of disability indicators, both those relating to the specific concerns of people with disabilities, and also the disaggregation of all person level indicators by disability so that outcomes of people with and without disabilities can be compared.
A well-tested set of questions suitable for this purpose exists and has, in recent years, experienced growing acceptance. Known collectively as the Washington Group Disability Questions, the questions are the result of global efforts to develop and test internationally comparable tools for identifying people with disabilities in censuses and surveys.
The participants reviewed the main sections of the report and presented their feedback while Dr Adebayo provided a detailed understanding on how Washington Group of Questions Sets can be used in different situations during data collection.
A Coalition member, Funsho Olajide thereafter made a presentation on COVID-19: Impact on the Methodology for Collection and Use of Disability Disaggregated Data. He emphasized how lack of disability disaggregated data could affect the inclusion of persons with disabilities during disasters, emergencies or crises, using the COVID-19 intervention programmes as an example.
The participants reviewed the sections in the draft white paper as group tasks and came up with recommendations for the consultant.
Dr Irene in her closing remarks appreciated the members of the coalition, the OPDs, MDAs and other relevant stakeholders present at the technical meeting for their technical inputs and urged them to continue to engage broadly to ensure that efforts at having disability disaggregated data is achieved. She requested for more collaborations and supports towards achieving the objective of the project’s goal.
The participants at the meeting were drawn from representatives of different disability clusters, civil society organizations, staff of NCPWD and representatives of MDAs.
SOME PICTURES OF THE WORKSHOP
