Women with disabilities in Nigeria under the auspices of Network for Women With Disabilites have presented charter of demands to enhance their inclusion in sphere of life.
They made these demands during a press conference organized by the group on Monday in partnership with WRAPA and support from MacArthur Foundation.
Apart from presenting the charter of demands, the press conference according to the Vice President, Network for Women with Disabilities (NWD) Rose Daniel during her opening remark is also to call on Nigerians to join women with disabilites for an inclusive/awareness rally on Wednesday 14th February, 2023 to create awareness on the needs and demands of women with disabilites to participate in electoral process, governance and economic activities.
Godiya John, the Media and Communication Officer, NWD FCT Chapter told journalists that In Nigeria, there are no data or statistics that show women with disabilities are fully integrated, mainstreamed or included in societal activities, agendas and priorities.
She regreted that Women with disabilities have been left behind and marginalized for too long.
“We have many barriers that are hindering us from living independent lives in Nigeria, ranging from medical barriers to attitudinal barriers to infrastructural barriers to social barriers to economic barriers to institutional barriers, etc”.
She admitted that there are notable concerted efforts and actions for the inclusion of women with disabilites through programs, advocacy ideas, interventions, activities and mobilization of resources to improve their participation. However, with millions of funding spent and time investments, they have not been able to record an appreciable result or expected outcome of inclusion of women with disabilities in every sector in Nigeria.
She said that it is this view, that the need to develop charter of demands (the first of its kind in the country), that aims to prioritize the inclusion and participation of women with disabilities in the political sphere and other sectors, where we long to observe true equality and equity. It was developed through the findings and consultation of key actors, committed to the inclusion of women with disabilities in Nigerian Democracy and Governance.
“In the several advocacy and inclusion engagements, we recognized former and existing structures that seek to promote the inclusion of women with disabilities. We examined the barriers to inclusion and we collectively developed this charter of demands to Synergize efforts to chart a sustainable course for the future to include women with disabilities in public life according to articles 6 and 29 of the United Nations on the Rights of Women with Disabilities in the short and long term achievements”.
She expressed confidence that this charter of demands will serve as a tool for inclusion and a strategic road-map for developmental processes for CSOs, organizations of persons with disabilities, international donors, thought leaders, governments, media institutions, ministries, departments, agencies, policy/decision makers, present and incoming administrations, traditional leaders, politicians, inter party advisory council, political parties, women in politics forum and development partners with a clear objective of inclusion of women with disabilities in the political sphere and other sectors.
She appreciated the support from MacArthur Foundation in partnership with Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) for the development and production of the charter of demands.
“The Network of Women with Disabilities deeply appreciate you for this huge support towards inclusive governance” she added.
“According to statistics on disability from Nigeria’s 2006 National Census (conducted by the National Population Commission), there were 3,253,169 individuals with impairments in the country (out of a national population figure of 140,431,790).
According to a breakdown of this number, there are 1,544,418 women and 1,002,062 children who are with disabilities overall. This places the total number of persons with disabilities in 2006 at roughly 2.32% of the population (140,431,790). Of the 2.32% (i.e., those with impairments), women with disabilities make up 1.1% of the total (Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette, 2009; National Population Commission, 2010). According to the Nigeria National Population Commission, there are an estimated 19 million women with disabilities living in Nigeria as of 2018. This puts the estimated percentage of women with disabilities at 9.6%. Over 27 million Nigerians are said to be with a disability as of 2020. (Wikipedia, 2021)” she stated.
She explained that these numbers can be considered cautious because they don’t appear to accurately reflect the frequency and number of women with disabilities in Nigeria. Additionally, given that Nigeria’s population has climbed to roughly 214 million people (according to the Central Intelligence Agency’s 2018 demographic projection), the overall number of women with disabilities would have increased. Also, considering this estimate along with the WHO estimate that 15% of any given population has some form of disability (WHO, 2013) or even the point made by Mba (1977) and Abang (1991) regarding the challenges of conducting a reliable census for those with disabilities in Nigeria, then the total number of people with disabilities should be close to 32 million.
Speaking further, she also said :”The rights of women with disabilities are routinely infringed, and discriminatory acts are committed against them in Nigeria. Lack of accessibility to the opportunities made available by various laws and policies in Nigeria is the most frequent and severe problem that individuals with disabilities, particularly women, experience. We don’t take for granted the work done by the government of Nigeria and other international organizations to guarantee that women with disabilities have access to the same possibilities as those enjoyed by those without disabilities. The efforts made can be seen through laws, policies, and a variety of other means to fulfill and meet the aforementioned needs of women with disabilities.
“Despite the efforts made, we still find that the rights of women with disabilities are undervalued, despite the laws and policies in place”.
“As a result, we demand that the Nigerian government highlight the efforts that will allow women with disabilities to enjoy their basic rights and live decent and independent lives. We believe that women with disabilities can live independently. This can be accomplished by providing guaranteed decent work and opportunities. This is because we believe that economic independence is the only way to end all forms of cruelty, mistreatment, and exploitation of women with disabilities”.
The right to live for women with disabilities is an important and valuable right, and it cannot exist in isolation from other rights. Other rights protection for women with disabilities includes the right to live.
Mary Musa, Legal practitioner and Secretary, Network of Women with Disabilities, stressed the need for political will on the part of government to ensure safety, security and protection of People with Disabilities (PWDs) during the forthcoming election.
She lamented about Women With Disabilites are most vulnerable, most discrimination against, most relegated when it comes to political participation.
She also said that all the advocacy of the group have fallen to deaf ears because politicians don’t have regard for women with disabilities to engage them and know their needs. Women with disabilities are poorest among persons with disabilites so they deserve all the attention.
In the same vein, Ms Rose Daniel, Vice President II, NWD, stressed the need for the government and other stakeholders to prioritise education, empowerment and health of PWDs.
On violence free electoral process for Women with disabilities, Rose revealed that they have engaged INEC, National Assembly, IPAC and they have given commitment to ensure that PWDs would be secured at the polling units and they will also enjoy priority voting irrespective of the cluster of disability.
Hence, Women with Disabilities in Nigeria collectively agreed as follows through this Charter:
ARTICLE 1: RIGHT TO WORK AND BE GAINFULLY EMPLOYED
ARTICLE2. PUBLIC AWARENESS ON THE RIGHTS OF THE WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES.
ARTICLE3. RIGHT TO DEMONSTRATE POLITICAL WILL AND COMMITMENT TO GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES
ARTICLE 4. VALUE EDUCATION OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES.
ARTICLE 5. HEALTH OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES
ARTICLE 6. SECURITY OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES.
ARTICLE 7. PROTECTION OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES DURING GENERAL ELECTIONS.
ARTICLE 8. LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT OF EXECUTIVE OPPORTUNITIES
ARTICLE 9. WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES & ECONOMY
ARTICLE 10. WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES INVOLVEMENT IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR
ARTICLE11. WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES ACCESS TO PHYSICAL STRUCTURES.
The group made the following recommendations:
- True Democracy demands that all segments of the populace must be involved in the governance of their nation, states and other administrative Units. Therefore All relevant stakeholders must as a matter of urgency commence the process of incorporating and respecting quota systems to encourage the participation of women of disabilities in the political process.
- Government actors at all levels have the obligation to uphold the principles of equality and equity, therefore Stakeholders at all levels must Include gender, women with disabilities as parameters of federal character and equal opportunity.
- Legislative actions are important for the growth and sustainability of democracy. There is therefore a need to Reform the electoral law to provide for affirmative actions targeting women with disabilities as a criteria for registration of political parties.
- Accountability mechanisms are crucial to sustainable democracy and development. Responsible parties must Institute accountability mechanisms and frameworks in principal documents i.e. party constitution, party manifesto, party leadership and strategies on the implementation of the National Gender Policy, the National disability law and use of gender and disability disaggregated data for planning.
- Relevant Government actors must Domesticate relevant regional and international conventions and frameworks in Nigeria, including the UN Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Protocol; and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa, the United Nations Charter on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- All relevant actors must commence the immediate implementation of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities Prohibition Act (2019) provisions on political and electoral participation taking into consideration the need for Gender equality and equity.
- To encourage and prepare women with disabilities to take political positions at all levels, relevant stakeholders must Provide dedicated funding for women’s political participation aimed at achieving 35% affirmative action in elective and appointive positions in 2023 and beyond.
- The Independent National Electoral Commission and the Interparty Advisory Councils must set and implement requirements that mandate Political parties to have in their decision making organs women with disabilities before registration.
- Convene National Women with Disabilities Summit and conduct a survey on women with disabilities inclusion.
- Commence the process of development of the first National Disability Inclusion Framework for Women with Disabilities in Nigeria.
