By Justina Auta
SightSavers, an international NGO has unveiled six steps to promote inclusivity for People with Disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria and four other countries.
This is contained in a statement issued by Sightsavers Nigeria Country Director, Dr Joy Shu’aibu, on Wednesday in Abuja while presenting a new report on development projects around the world.
Shu’aibu explained that the report:”Driving change: six principles for inclusive development” was released by the Inclusive Futures consortium, led by Sightsavers and the International Disability Alliance (IDA).
From 2019 to 2023, the Inclusive Futures consortium, which is made up of 20 development and disability rights organisations implemented 12 projects in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
The consortium gathered evidence and from lessons learnt, formulated the six key principles to help transform the way the development sector approaches disability inclusion.
According to her, the report features six game-changing principles which put experiences and theory into action and aim to transform the lives of millions of PWDs.
She said: “by adopting these six principles in your work, you could help change the lives of millions of people with disabilities. If not, many will continually be trapped in poverty.
“To drive the required change at the scale needed to reach up to 16 per cent of the world’s population, we now need professionals working across the global development sector to put what we’ve learned into practice.”
She said that the report includes how to challenge negative stereotyping and stigma; ensuring accurate and context-specific data to inform all work and involving PWDs in influence projects at every stage.
” They include: be ambitious – build inclusion into every phase; if it’s not working – change it!; shatter stereotypes and break down barriers; collect precise data and track your spending; capture changes and tell your story; and don’t try to do it alone – form partnerships.”
Hamidat Ajibola, the Adolescent Outreach Officer at Women with Disabilities Self-Reliance Foundation, Sightsavers partner said the organisation has worked with local Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and communities to put these principles into practice.
Ajibola explained that their organisation has been supporting women with disabilities to access family planning services in northern Nigeria .
“I believe these principles are essential for truly inclusive and impactful development work.
“For organisations of PWDs like ours, these principles provide a valuable framework to guide our efforts and ensure the voices of women, adolescent girls, and children with disabilities are front and centre of our initiatives.”
She added that the release of the ‘Driving Change’ report was apt and timely as it gears towards fulfilling the mandates of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Sustainable Development Goals.
“This explicitly recognise the importance of disability inclusion. Yet, significant barriers to equal participation for people with disabilities persist worldwide,” she decried.
