A clarion call has gone out to the government, its agencies and other stakeholders, both local and international to take active measures towards curbing the menace of excluding Deaf women from core services.
The charge was delivered by the association’s National President, Mrs Hellen Anurika Beyioku-Alase in her welcome address at the opening ceremony of the ongoing Deaf Women Association of Nigeria (DWAN) Annual General Meeting held at Chida events center, Jabi, Abuja, yesterday Tuesday 23 August, 2022.
Madam Hellen, while recounting the progress of the Association under her leadership in the past one year was however quick to point huge gap that still exists in reaching their target objective of full inclusion of Deaf women in national live.
She particularly emphasized on better inclusion for Deaf women in the area of Health Care service delivery through the removal of communication barriers and poor access to information.
Hellen said: “We acknowledge the huge gap that still exists in accessing sexual and reproductive health information and services by Deaf women and girls in Nigeria.”
The situation, according to her, is a cause for concern. Using her experience as a deaf mother of four who struggled to access health services in hospitals without sign language interpreters to drive home the message, the National President reiterates the importance of removing the barriers between Deaf women and health care providers.
Hellen remarked that the association has taken the first steps of this journey of a thousand miles by the initiatives it is taking to tackle the challenge.
We are willing and ready to go the whole mile, she vows.
However, she acknowledges that “we cannot walk alone”.
“We need collaboration with relevant stakeholders – starting with the Government, agencies, local and international organizations, etc.
The event was well attended by top functions from both public and private sectors.
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