Cedar Seed Foundation said women with disabilities have zero percent rate of participation in governance in Nigeria.
The foundation made the disclosure in a stakeholders engagement on disability inclusion in governance with support from MacArthur Foundation and Policy and Legal Advocacy Center (PLAC) in Abuja.
Speaking in her welcome address, Lois Auta, the Founder/Executive Director of the Cedar Seed Foundation said “Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) have been excluded from representations in politics and appointments in Nigeria, particularly women and girls with disabilities who are treated as third class citizens. She said women with disabilities go through three problems, firstly as a woman, secondly as a woman with disability and thirdly, the barriers that women and girls with disabilities face in the country which could be attitudinal, infrastructural or institutional and many other areas.
“It’s saddening to note that in this country, we have men with disabilities who are elected into office. Some, presently in their various positions in elective offices. What of women and girls with disabilities? We have nothing to write home about and this is a call for collaboration.
“We want to ensure a total inclusion of women and girls with disabilities in Nigeria. We want our voices to be heard and amplified and for our rights to be given to us, we want to be part of decision makers and policy influencers.
INN reports that women and girls with disabilities face additional barriers to their socioeconomic participation compared to men—with and without disabilities.
Also speaking, James Christoff, the High Commissioner of Canada to Nigeria, noted that the International assistance policy focuses on the importance of working to advance gender equality.
He said the organization is making efforts to ensure the most vulnerable groups are not left behind.
According to him, “we take great pride in supporting initiatives through our Canadian fund for local initiatives. The project’s objective is to fortify local institutions and could do more on matter of governance and rule of law with a keen focus on promoting disability.
“It’s evident that there is a significant gap in the implementation and compliance with the National Disability law across various institutions in Nigeria, whether they are federal, state or private sectors.
He said “strengthening partnership and fostering synergy between these entities would significantly enhance efforts to ensure widespread understanding and compliance with the provision of the law.”
Also speaking, representative of PLAC, Mr. Akwu Ogbadu said the centre is happy to work with disability community to ensure that governance system in Nigeria is inclusive.
“We believe that all stakeholders within disability community will continue to amplify the issues of negligence in the governance system.
“We do hope that this will help us achieve some of the key milestones that we need to achieve at all levels whether in the federal, state, or at the local government.