Change And Advancement Of Nigerians With Disabilities

Nigeria is championing change and advancement of persons with disabilities, Hajiya Zainab Maina, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development has said. Maina stated this at a high-level meeting of the 68th session of the General Assembly on Monday in the United States. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting is where world leaders pledge to work together on national and international policies that enhance and promote inclusive development. "My country has signed and ratified key international treaties pertaining to persons with disabilities, including the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2007 and its Optional Protocol in 2010.

``Nigeria is also a signatory to the International Labour Convention 159 on vocational rehabilitation and employment for PWDs,’’ the minister said. Persons with disabilities make up the largest minority in the world, with more than 1 billion people living with some form of disability. Eighty per cent are of working age and the vast majority live in developing countries. Maina, however, said that the Federal Government was collaborating with ,local and international organisations including Disabled People Organisations (DPOs) at Federal, State and Local government levels to formulate policies, plan and implement initiative that would incorporate PWDs in the country’s development  agenda. She also said that government was establishing structures to mainstream disability perspectives across all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies at the Federal level.

According to her, to ensure effective service delivery to persons with disabilities in Nigeria, baseline surveys on persons with disabilities and children with disabilities were carried out in 2009 and 2010, respectively. ``Availability of relevant disability data will aid the government in appropriate policy formulation, planning, and implementation of intervention measures. ``It will equally improve strategies for mainstreaming of persons with disabilities towards participation in socioeconomic and political development of the Nigerian nation."Earlier, some UN officials have said that the rights of persons with disabilities must be directly addressed by the post-2015 development agenda. “Disability is part of the human condition, almost everyone will be temporarily or permanently impaired at some point in life.

“Yet far too many people with disabilities live in poverty. Too many suffer from social exclusion. Too many are denied access to education, employment, health care, and social and legal support systems. “All of us suffer when communities are divided, just as all of us benefit when communities are united,” the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon said. He, however, underlined that persons with disabilities are an integral part in achieving the eight anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before their deadline, and in shaping the post-2015 development agenda.  “We must further strengthen the international normative framework on disability and development.

``We must act now to remove barriers to access to physical environments, transportation and information and communications.
``And we must not only lift the physical barriers – but also the barriers in attitudes that fuel stigma and discrimination,” Ban said. Also speaking, the President of the UN General Assembly, John Ashe, called on Member States that have not yet done so to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).According to him, to date, 134 countries have ratified or acceded to the Convention. “The Convention is a strong symbol of the international community’s commitment to include the disability perspective in all aspects of society and development. ``And while symbols are no doubt important, this commitment now needs to be fully integrated into all current and future development frameworks and interventions,” Ashe said. (NAN)