Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) has called for support for people living with disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria to guarantee their socio-economic and political rights.
Executive Director of IFA, Grace Jerry, emphasised the need to support the around 30 million Nigerians living with disabilities to participate in the nation’s electoral process.
She lamented the unavailability of handrails and ramps at polling units, assistive materials such as braille ballot guide, magnifying glasses and election day instructional material.
President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) bill into law in 2018.
While ensuring the protection and provision of rights to people with disabilities across all areas, the Act explicitly states that the federal government will ‘promote an environment’ that encourages people with disabilities to participate in politics.
To this effect, the National Disability Databank was set up to further enable the government incorporate PLWDs into the country’s social development programmes.
‘We request the media houses assist in using their space for mobilisation of PWDs in the planned Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) so as not to disfranchise PWD voters in the forthcoming elections’, Jerry said when members of the IFA board visited the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
‘IFA request for increased sensitisation on political participation for PWDs by media houses, increase in reporting and prioritising of PWDs matters and also the need for a programme for citizens to understand basic needs and right of PWDs’.
IFA had launched a sign language interpreter’s manual aimed at improving participation and accessibility for PWDs in Nigeria’s electoral processes.
The organisation, in partnership with the Nigerian National Association of the Deaf (NNAD) and the Association of Sign Language Interpreters of Nigeria (ASLIN), also launched and presented a document on the Cost of Accessible Elections in Nigeria.
The manual was developed to guide Nigeria’s electoral umpire and other public and private institutions on the use of sign language interpreters for effective communication with voters with hearing impairments before, during and after elections’.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria
Photo source: NDDB
