Hameed Oyegbade, Osogbo
The Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) in Osun State has said that its members are the worst hit by consequences of the coronavirus.
The Public Relations Officer of JONAPWD in the state, Mrs Funmilayo Abdullahi said the lockdown and curfew imposed by government to prevent the spread of the disease blocked the means of livelihood of the persons with disabilities.
She spoke with Daily Trust on the sideline of a psycho-social support training organised by Osun State Agency for Community and Social Development Project, (Osun-CSDP) for community leaders, health workers, persons with disabilities, civil society groups and Local Government officials.
The first batch of the training held at BenBer Foundation Hall in Osogbo, the state capital was conducted under strict adherence to the guidelines of National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and attended by only 30 participants drawn from different parts of state.
The participants were trained on conflict management and furnished with necessary papers on how to manage conflict in their localities, particularly at this critical period that most people are battling the emotional effects of COVID-19.
Funmilayo said “Many persons with disabilities might even contemplate committing suicide because of the frustration in this period of COVID-19. So, this psychosocial training will really help us to reduce the tendencies of dejection”.
The General Manager of Osun-CSDP, Mrs Aderonke Funmi Abokede said the participants would also train other people in their communities and that the learning would cascade down to the grassroots in all nooks and crannies of the state.
She said conflict is one of the psychosocial issues that may occur when people are worry and frustrated and that conflict management becomes very necessary now that COVID-19 has triggered family problems, health challenges among other consequences of the loss of means of livelihood due to lockdown and curfew imposed to prevent spread of COVID-19.
The Osun-CSDP Operations Manager, Mr Felix Akinwande while guiding the participants through the manual of community engagement concerning the task ahead, reminded them to always be pragmatic, logical and safety conscious to avoid becoming victims in the course of undertaking the assignment.
