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ActionAid hails Buhari over establishment of Disability Commission

Calls for domestication at State, LG levels By Gabriel Ewepu – Abuja An international humanitarian and non-governmental organisation wor...

ActionAid hails Buhari over establishment of Disability Commission

Calls for domestication at State, LG levels

ActionAid hails Buhari over establishment of Disability Commission

By Gabriel Ewepu – Abuja

An international humanitarian and non-governmental organisation working to combat poverty and all forms of injustice in Nigeria, ActionAid Nigeria, AAN, Tuesday, hailed President Muhammadu Buhari, over the establishment of the Disability Commission.

The commendation was made by the Country Director, AAN, Ene Obi, while noting the fact that the over 25 million Persons With Disabilities, PWDs, in Nigerian deserve a Commission to cater for their challenges and help them realise their aspirations and inspirations upon better welfare as bona fide Nigerian citizens with equal rights and privileges.

Obis also lauded Buhari for the appointment of executive members of the Commission and expressed optimism that the Commission being the first of its kind in Nigeria will live up to expectation by ensuring the inclusion and welfare of PWDs as enshrined in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Law in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: 2020 World Humanitarian Day: ActionAid condemns violence against aid workers

She further stated that AAN hopes that the Commission through its mandate will ensure that the education, healthcare, and other social and economic rights of the people with disabilities contained in the 1999 Constitution and the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be upheld.

She said: “ With an estimated population of 25 million Nigerians with disability (Human Rights Watch 2019), the need for a Disability Commission is long overdue and we applaud the Federal Government for making efforts to bring an end to years of exclusion of this valuable population through the establishment of a Commission, that is charged specifically with the responsibility of ensuring the inclusion and welfare of persons with disabilities as enshrined in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Law in Nigeria.

“We earnestly hope that the Commission through its mandate will ensure that the education, healthcare, and other social and economic rights of the people with disabilities contained in the 1999 Constitution and the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be upheld.

“Also worthy of emphasis is the need to ensure that at least five per cent of all public appointments go to people with disabilities as backed up by the law supporting the establishment of the commission; only PWDs can proffer solutions to challenges they face and we call governments at all level to honor this provision of the law.”

She also emphasized that “For persons with disabilities, the freedom to move safely around urban and rural areas in Nigeria is greatly restricted by the plan and design of transport systems that are insensitive to their needs and by negative social norms that tolerate violence towards certain disabilities.

“These insensitivities expose them to violence whilst on the streets, especially women with disabilities facing multiple burdens as they are exposed to the threat of gender-based violence while they go about their daily life.

“Key areas that require immediate attention include the transformation of the transport system to ensure adequate buses and stops, street lighting, recruitment of female transport staff, disability-friendly public toilets and infrastructure that caters to their mobility and protection.”

The AAN boss also tasked the government on putting in huge resources to invest in PWDs apart from the good work done to establish a commission for them.

“ActionAid Nigeria welcomes the federal government’s commitment to creating a PWD friendly society, but we need to see this translated into investment in infrastructure and public services that account for the needs of this teeming population, and by extension, everybody’s a need.

READ ALSO: Int’l Youth Day: ActionAid calls on govt to create economic opportunity to tackle youth unemployment

“More tax, well spent, can help make this happen, but the aggressive reduction of corporate tax bills undermines the efforts of governments to secure resources to fund public services.

“Governments should ensure that PWDs participate equally and meaningfully in all processes around designing, legislating and budgeting for city planning and public transport”, she said.

However, she (Obi) urged the government all levels to domesticate the Disability Commission without further delay in order to avoid great injustice at the state and local government levels.

“ActionAid Nigeria, therefore, urges governments to leverage additional revenue from closing tax loopholes to provide disability-friendly public transport and other public services.

“We call on state governments to expedite action in, one of the most lethal pandemics in the history of mankind”, she added.

Vanguard

The post ActionAid hails Buhari over establishment of Disability Commission appeared first on Vanguard News.



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