In its bid to cut across all strata of immediate society with advocacy campaigns, PWDs have urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to sign, adopt, and ratify the Africa Disability Protocol (ADP) for some 31 million Persons with Disabilities in the country.
The pressure group made the call in a video clip released by Down Syndrome Foundation on YouTube to press for official adoption of the protocol.
ADP is a development that is expected to lead to considerable improvements in the lives of African people with disabilities. The Protocol addresses some of the urgent issues that have the most disproportionate impact on people with disabilities, such as poverty, systemic discrimination and harmful practices.
Eleven countries such as Central African Republic, Rwanda, Togo, South Africa, Gabon and Burkina Faso among others have signed the ADP while one country has ratified the Protocol.
According to the group, The awareness campaign video for the Africa Disability Protocol is a time-bound strategy which will run for six months. As a strategic campaign, it aims at increasing public visibility and awareness. It also seeks to educate, sensitize and domesticate the Africa Disability Protocol. Its influence is expected to cut across DPOs, CSOs, CBOs, as well as other private and public stakeholders of the ADP ratification in Nigeria.
This is a platform for planning a campaign which will spread the word about the mission of ADP – explain why it matters, as well as guide potential supporters on how to get involved. It also recognizes the standards set by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
The Africa Disability Protocol will provide the first, comprehensive African normative basis for ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities as full human beings with inherent dignity and not as mere objects. The policy is informed by the social model of disability rather than the charity and medical models which have hither to guided policy and law-making across much of Africa. It will also increase digital engagement towards ratification of the ADP in Nigeria.
Once it is adopted and comes into force, the ADP will offer political and diplomatic possibilities at continental level for rallying advocacy and other actions that ensures the rights of persons with disabilities in Africa are protected.
The group said it will partner CSOs and DPOs to raise awareness about the ADP across States and municipalities, adding that there will also be promotions and enlightenment on the binding force of the ADP on professionals and staff who work with Persons with Disabilities at Local (municipal), State, and Federal Levels.
Among the advocates who collaborated to launch the campaign were CedarSeed Foundation, CEO, Lois Auta-Udonkanta, Down Syndrome Nigeria’s Mrs. Rose Mordi and Initiative for National Growth’s, Rachael Inegbedion.
Other members who joined in the awareness campaign video clip were Theophilus Odaudu, Olajide Benjamin, Raheem Olatunji, and a host other disability advocates representing various clusters of PWDs – viz the physically challenged, the visually impaired, wheelchair users, Down syndrome, SCIAN, etc.