… As Nat. Assembly moves for 10% employment quota for PWDs
By Lanre Oloyede
As part of activities to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities, Hon Mohammed Abba Isa, on Friday organized an empowerment seminar for women with disabilities in Nigeria.
Recall that March 8 is designated by the United Nations as the International Women’s Day to celebrate women, identify issues they face, foster sustainable solutions, and provide developmental frameworks for a sustainable environment.
The theme for the 2024 celebration is ‘’COUNT HER IN: INVEST IN WOMEN. ACCELERATE PROGRESS, and it centres around women economic empowerment.
The Empowerment Program, which was an initiative of the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities with support from partner organizations, saw over 20 beneficiaries went home with Point of Sales machines and other startup kits to enable them start a self-dependent life.
The beneficiaries, who were drawn from different states of the federation, also cut across different clusters of disabilities.
Some of the partner organizations which collaborated with the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President to make the program possible included Prime Diamond Initiative on Community Health (PDICH), ABIS Farmers Market and European Cultural Center (ECC).
While delivering his opening remarks, Hon. Abba Isa hinted that the objective of the empowerment program was aimed at tapping into the unique potentials of women with disabilities who, despite being regarded as very productive gender, have suffered neglect and discrimination over the years.
The Senior Presidential aide maintained that such targeted interventions have come to stay and shall be a continuous exercise from his office so as to cover as many beneficiaries as possible in line with the inclusion mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu which is to leave no one behind.
The SSAP decried that despite the incredible achievements and progress made in the realm of gender equality, however, there are still barriers that prevent many women and girls, particularly those with disabilities, from fully participating in society and reaching their full potential.
He stressed that goal of the targeted interventions such as this was to identify the unique challenges faced by women and girls with disabilities, whether they be physical, sensory, intellectual, or psychosocial and address them frontally.
Hon. Abba Isa said: “The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu which I represent recognizes and places premium on Women’s economic empowerment as a necessity to a gender equal world in line with the objectives of his Renewed Hope Agenda.
“We believe when women are given equal opportunities to earn, learn and lead, then the entire communities will thrive.
“As the SSA to the President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities, I take this year’s celebration as
an occasion of great significance to underscore the need to champion gender equality.
“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, our administration has made significant strides in advancing the rights and opportunities of women across the nation. We have implemented comprehensive policies and programs aimed at fostering gender equality in all spheres of society, including education, employment, healthcare, and political representation.”
“On my part as the SSA to Mr President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities, my office in the last four months of assuming office has implemented a number of initiatives targeted at advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.
“One of such notable initiatives is the launch of Disability Inclusion Governors Connect Program which was flagged off by Lagos State governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu.
“An important component of the program is Women and Girls Educational and Skills Empowerment. The program seeks to connect with the 36 states Governors, raise awareness on disability issues, facilitate their compliance with disability norms, provide technical support through the process, rate and induct compliant administrators into the disability friendly Hall of fame, and to continue monitoring their compliance.
“Earlier this year, my office facilitated the inclusion of some women with disabilities In the National Business Skills Development Initiative (NBSDI) recently launched by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) where they were trained in various vocational skills and empowered with startup kits and funds to start their businesses.”
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Prime Diamond Initiative on Community Health (PDICH), Mrs Chinasa Onukegbe stated that the numerous challenges faced by women was what inspired her and her organization to support this nobel initiative to empower women with disabilities.
Mrs Onukegbe explained that these challenges often include limited access to education, employment opportunities, healthcare, and social services.
She reiterated the commitment of her organization to continue to support initiatives and interventions that promote empowerment of women with disabilities.
In his goodwill message, Chairman House Committee on Disability, Hon. Dr. Bashir Dawodu, decried the situation where women with disabilities are being discriminated at, while stressing that the House of Representatives Committee is in the process of examining some aspects of the laws that need to be amended in order to address this menace.
Hon. Dawodu reiterated that the National Disability Law basically protects the rights of Persons With Disabilities and covers all aspects of life from education to health to transportation to accessibility.
While enjoining victims of discrimination to take advantage of the law to seek redress, he advised the beneficiaries to make good use of the empowerment package given to them to add value and improve their livelihood.
On her part, the Chairman House Committee on women affairs, Hon. Kafilat Adetola Ogbara praised women with disabilities for their resilience and determination despite daunting socio-economic odds before them.
Hon. Ogbara opined that women with disabilities possess abilities and capabilities which people with able-body do not possess.
She hinted that she had moved a motion on the floor of the Green Chamber to compel all agencies and parastatals of federal and state government include PWDs by 10% into their workforce.
“We have a legislative agenda we are pursuing and PWDs are part of that Agenda
“I want to urge you that you should maximize your potentials irrespective of how you found yourself,” she said.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mrs Ezeani Adaeze thanked SSAP and supporting partners for the empowerment package, while promising that they would make good use of them.
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