Daughters of Charity, EDO JONAPWD stakeholders forum and IDPD activities on advocacy for Edo state disability bill

The Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent the Paul, in association with the Edo State chapter of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), organized a one-day stakeholders forum on the Edo State Disability Bill. The forum, which was held on the 22^nd November, 2019, sponsored by the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria, was well attended by civil society organizations, government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, human rights and Media organizations and the various clusters of persons with disabilities in Edo State.

Henry Ebose, the Chairman of the Edo State Chapter of JONAPWD, while expressing his dismay over the exclusion of persons with disabilities from the State development plans over the years, presented the Journey so far from 2012 till date in the advocacy for the enactment of Edo State Disability Law.

Different clusters of persons with disabilities at the forum spoke on the peculiar challenges their clusters are facing, which a disability law would address; such as societal negative attitude, poor access to public infrastructure, information, education, economic opportunities.

The Honourable Commissioner of Social Development and Gender Affairs, who represented the Edo State Governor at the forum, made a commitment to present the communique from the forum at the Executive Council meeting with the governor and to propose that the governor transmits the bill to the State house of Assembly as an executive bill while she would also lobby some members of the State House of Assembly to ensure easy passage of the bill.

The meeting was facilitated by David Anyaele, Executive Director, Centre for Citizen with disabilities (CCD)

The communique produced at the forum appreciated the Executive Governor of Edo State for the employment of persons with disabilities which has brought a lot of relief to them and their families. It highlighted the major challenges faced by PWDs in Edo State, such as exclusion from governance, discrimination on the grounds of disability, inaccessible social infrastructure and poor access to information and communication, among others. It called on the governor to follow the good example of other States that have enacted a disability law.A

Following the stakeholders’ forum, JONAPWD and other stakeholders staged a rally (street walk) on the 2^nd December 2019, for public awareness and advocacy for the Edo disability bill. The rally, which was part of the events to mark the 2019 International Day of Persons with Disabilities, was sponsored with funding from the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria, by the Daughters of Charity. Participants walked to the Office of the Edo State governor, where they were met by his representative, the Edo State House of Assembly where they were met by the Honourable Speaker of the House, and the National Union of Journalists for press briefing. All the parties made a commitment to support the cause for the bill.

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