Cedar Seed Foundation has called for full participation of persons with disabilities in the 2023 elections.
The foundation made the call during a sensitization campaign on disability inclusion in political processes held on Wednesday, 23 November, 2023.
Daret Fred, Chief technical adviser on election to the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, says disability inclusion and participation in an election is key in a social political development of a country.
The UN representative noted that the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the political process will go a long way in addressing the problem of their participation in governance and development of the country.
According to him, “to achieve an inclusive society, everyone in that society should be encouraged to participate in decision-making processes”
Rose Daniel, Technical Director, Cedar Seed Foundation (CSF), said the sensitisation programme will foster persons with disabilities to come out and participate in the electoral processes and expressed optimism that efforts of the government and non-governmental organisation in promoting political inclusion of PWDs have not gone unnoticed by the community.
Shedrack Danladi, Project Officer of CSF, noted that the foundation has made increased efforts to enlighten persons with disabilities on inclusive electoral process.
He said if a significant portion of 20 million citizens with disabilities are excluded from the decision making process, electoral processes, public infrastructure, access to polling units, and political participation, this poses a huge problem to us as a country.
According to Danladi, “the project aims to sensitize and enlighten 10,000 citizens on voter education in Abuja and Kaduna, for a total of 20,000 citizens.”