TQM report
Sightsavers Nigeria on Tuesday organized one-day workshop/ engagement of permanent secretaries and directors of Federal Ministries on mainstreaming of disability issues in their projects and programmes.
The Participants in a facilitation managed by Ekaete Judith Umoh, The President of Joint National Association of Persons with disabilities(JONAPWD) were taken on understanding of different barriers faced by persons with disabilities and how policy formulation and implementation can help to enhance disability inclusion.
The Participants were grouped into four with four different scenarios of these barriers to ascertain their understanding of the barriers to the service delivery to persons with disabilities and to build practical examples of how they can formulate policy and also implement the existing policies while mainstreaming disability.
The Organizations of Persons with disabilities(OPDs) had an interface with these government officials to find practical solution to disability inclusion in government programmes.
Mr. Razak Adekoya, a program officer in Sightsavers held a position that government officials should find synergy with OPDs if they should succeed in mainstreaming disability issues in their projects and programmes. He gave example of what synergy or collaboration can bring by telling a story on how ministry in charge of persons with disabilities in Ghana engaged the OPDs to pressurize their ministry of finance to release the money meant for the PWDs in the budget.
He then suggests that OPDs and Ministries form formidable partnership so that OPDs should always keep in tab with what the ministries are doing and see ways they can work with the ministries for the good of millions of PWDs in Nigeria.
OPDs present at the event all spoke in agreement and urge the government officials to create a platform whereby they can always engage with them for inclusion of PWDs.
Sr. Fidelia Unigwe, the coordinator, Daughter of Charity, Child Development reminded that whatever synergy that would be going on between the government officials and the OPDs, parents of the persons with intellectual disabilities should be included because they have a cluster that have not been properly represented among the OPDs. She said that she is grateful that they were included when the ministry of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development inaugurated the Nigerian Parliament for persons with disabilities but more should be done to equal representation of OPDs in policy formulation and implementation.
Nkechi Onwukwe, the director, Rehabilitation, Federal of Humanitarian Affairs, disaster management and social development charged OPDs to put forward what they are doing and also seek to know what the ministries are doing. She said that after the suspension of the subversion that the NGO were getting from the government. NGOs are no longer reporting or engaging the government more often with their programmes and activities.
Generally, they accepted that there would be sustained engagement, collaboration and among OPDs and government officials.
Some notable disability advocates were at the meeting such Alhaji Abudulmunini Ujah (Chairman, JONAPWD FCT), Obinna Ekujereonye (Chairman, Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAB FCT), Patience Ogolo Dickson (AWWDI), Lois Auta (Founder, Cedar seed foundation), Chris Agbo (The Qualitative Magazine), Hellen Beiyoku-alase (ED, Deaf Women Aloud Initiative) and Hon. Danjuma Atta( SA to Mr. President on Special Needs).
SOME PICTURES OF THE EVENT
