As part of the activities of a microproject under the GERIS project being funded by the European Union and implemented by Particip through Apolmida Haruna Tsammani of Haly Hope Foundation and Zubairu Babajide Atta of Media Advocates for Peace of the Global Exchange on Religion in Society (GERIS) advocated for holistic approach to the sexual and reproductive health rights of Women With Disabilities (WWDs) in Nigeria.
Apolmida Haruna Tsammani, the Executive Director, Haly Hope Foundation, speaking at a one-day interactive session with journalists in Abuja on 8th September, 2022, called for the implementation of National Policy on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights of Persons with disabilities with emphasis on women and girls and Discrimination against Persons With Disabilities (Prohibition Act (2018) to ensure the total protection of the rights of all PWDs in the country.
Speaking further, she said that the press conference is to round up the GERIS project which its goal of the project is to contribute to social inclusion and societal resilience by setting up a global, community-based initiative to facilitate a global conversation on diversity, coexistence and social inclusion.
“Through this action, the European Union proposes to connect positive experiences of coexistence among people of different faiths, and none, in societies across the globe”.
She also stated that the project is set out to empower civic engagement and facilitate a more active, participatory and shared sense of citizenship across different sets of beliefs and worldviews.
“With 175 participants, GERIS Network is composed of community-based actors, representatives of civil society organisations, religious actors, experts, and academics as well as journalists and media practitioners, coming from 55 countries”.
This component of the GERIS project which was implemented in Abuja from August to September, 2022, recorded several successes which includes Advocacy visits to various stakeholders cutting across the media (the BBC Media Action, the Armed Forces Radio), religious organizations (the Christian Association of Nigeria, the National Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs), CSOs (the Dorothy Njemanze Foundation) and OPDs like Network of Disabled Women (NDW) where we established partnership for sustainability of the project.
She said that these organizations made commitments to work with the GERIS Fellows to sustain the microproject.
She lamented that ministries, departments, and agencies responsible for implementation of the law, were not doing enough in this direction; resulting in the neglect of sexual and reproductive health rights of women with disabilities.
In responding to what women with disabilities really want, she said that we already have a National Policy on Reproductive Health Rights of Persons with Disabilities with specific emphasis on women and girls, Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities Prohibition Act (2019) and other relevant laws, we will be glad if they would be fully implemented.
“We want the government to put measures in place to make sure that these policy and law are actionable, and implementation.”
GERIS Fellow called for the full implementation of the law, saying that the move would improve the lives of women with disabilities in every sense.
She stressed that efforts at achieving social inclusion of PWDs should not just be about passing the law, but taking it forward to create cultural impacts.
“We want the government to support persons with disabilities because we need the enabling environment and access to sexual and reproductive health rights,” Tsammani added.
The rights advocate also explained that the campaign by the GERIS Fellows was designed to promote the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls living with a disability.
According to her, the aim is to tackle challenges that hinder women and girls with disability from accessing sexual and reproductive health services.
To this end, she said the GERIS Fellows have set up a referral pathway by putting in place a Women With Disabilities -Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights helpline where women with disabilities who are survivors of abuse and other related issues can call in and they will be referred to the appropriate organization for support.
“The Helpline is 07011110239. Women With Disabilities and their families can either SMS or call-in to register their complaints and also make counselling enquiries,” she added.
Tsammani disclosed the intention of the GERIS Fellows to plug in to resources available in the National databank on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights for better results.
She said that they had secured support to ensure understanding, awareness, and appreciation of the contents of the National Policy on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Persons with Disabilities with special focus on women and girls.
The essence of the exercise was to make the policy document simpler and comprehensible to female PWDs and the public.
According to her, a simplified version of the manual will be up on their various organisation website and social media platforms as soon as it is ready.
Another Fellow, Mr Zubairu Babajide Atta, from the Media Advocates for Peace Foundation, explained why the GERIS micro programme tagged: ‘CSOs and Media Networking Project: Promoting the Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights of Women with Disabilities in Nigeria’ was adopted for implementation.
He said the focus on women and girls was because they were vulnerable and often face challenges about their rights, particularly those living with disabilities.
“We decided to focus on women with disabilities to give them voice and let people realise that physical disabilities does not exclude them from accessing sexual and reproductive health services,” Atta said.
