By Chris Agbo
Count Disability Nigeria Coalition (CDNC) on Monday in Abuja organized a One-Day Project Orientation Meeting.
CDNC is a coalition of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities working to ensure that all state and non-state actors institutionalize the practice of collecting data that is disaggregated by disability and use same for planning and decision-making.
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The Coalition is led by Disability Rights Advocacy Center (DRAC) with members comprising the following organizations: Disability Not A Barrier Initiative (DINABI) Mimi-Jean Foundation & JONAPWD Anambra State Chapter.
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The project is being implemented by the Count Disability Nigeria Coalition with support from Disability Rights Fund. The aim of the project is to increase the availability of disability-disaggregated data in Nigeria for effective program planning and implementation and support Government towards achieving her commitments on data at the Global Disability Summit held in 2018.
The Convener, Dr. Irene Ojiugo Patrick-Ogbogu in her opening speech said that lack of disaggregated data of persons with disabilities is having a negative impact on the effort of OPDs to advocate for disability inclusion in most of the government social intervention. She gave example of the challenge faced by OPDs during the COVID-19 Palliative Distribution when nobody was able to provide comprehensive data of PWDs for government to work with it.
She expressed joy that National Population Commission is about to carry out a National Census so it is imperative that this Coalition advocate for disability inclusion in order to achieve disaggregated data that have undermined articulated plans for mainstream PWDs in government planning and development. She encouraged OPDs to take ownership of the project and drive it. She called on all stakeholders to put all hands on deck and ensure the commitments made by the Federal Government at the Global Disability Summit are met and to ensure that Disability Data are collected using the Washington Group of Questions.
The Executive Secretary, National Commission of Persons with disabilities, Dr James Lalu expressed gratitude on the project the Coalition is embarking on saying that it would greatly assist the newly established commission in planning their programs for the teeming population of persons with disabilities. He said he was present at the Global Disability Summit and that disability data took the center stage at the meeting. He promised to work with the Coalition in engaging the National Population Commission to ensure that the coming census takes cognizance of disability issues in its activities using the Washington Group of Questions.
A Coalition member and Executive Director of DINABI, Olajide Funso made a presentation on the Overview of Current Disability Data/Statistics in Nigeria. He stated that the disability data in Nigeria is inconsistent, unreliable, non-disaggregated, estimation-based and completely under-represent the disability community. He said while the 2006 Nigerian Census reported 3,253,169 people with disabilities, the World Report on Disability, published in 2011, said about 25 million Nigerians had at least one disability while another report also claimed that no fewer than 19 million Nigerians are living with disabilities. These conflicting figures obviously cannot be relied on for planning and implementation.
Dr. Irene in her presentation provided an overview of the background to the Global Disability Summit and the Commitments made. Highlights of the GDS were the 170 commitments to end stigma and tackle discrimination against persons with disabilities and ensure that persons with disabilities have equal access and voice in society. 301 governments and organizations also signed the ‘Charter for Change,’ an action plan to implement the UN International Convention on Disability.
She further said that Nigeria also put timelines to these commitments, and it is the duty of the OPDs to hold government accountable to ensure that these commitments are reached by government.
The participants were grouped into three to map out strategies to ensure success in the collection of disaggregated data of PWDs in Nigeria. This was facilitated by Beatrice Mube of Mimijean Foundation, a member of the Coalition.
Participants expressed optimism about the project and lauded DRAC for always designing initiatives that enlighten and educate the disability community as most of them had no idea about the commitments made by Nigeria at the GDS and they are now energized to start holding Government accountable.
The event witnessed the presence of some notable disability rights advocates, Mr Lawrence Idemudia, Mr Chris Agbo of Qualitative Magazine, Barr Ikem Uchegbulam, Obinna Ekujereonye, Mohammed Haruna, Vice President, NNAD, Barr. Catherine Edeh Founder, Voice of Disability Initiative, and Dr. Adebukola Adebayo, a consultant for the project among others.
Some pictures from The Event
