US pledges support for PWDs in Nigeria

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The United States (US) has pledged its total support for people with disabilities (PWDs) in ensuring that their rights are not only promoted but also protected for full inclusion on an equal basis with others.

The US ambassador to Nigeria, Richard M. Mills Jr, gave the assurance at the launch of the 2023 Nigeria’s elections report on the inclusion of persons with disabilities on Thursday in Abuja organised by the Cedar Seed Foundation (CSF) in conjunction with Luminate.

While commending CSF for coming up with the report, the ambassador who was represented by Stephen Schlieman of the Political Office, US Mission, Nigeria, said President Joe Biden is committed to supporting disability-inclusive action affecting one billion persons with disabilities around the world.

“The United States considers disability-inclusive democracy and political participation key ingredients to a strong democratic foundation. Democracy promotes respect for human rights helps address drivers of inequality and inequity and enables freedom of expression, press freedom, transparency, and accountability.

“Supporting democracy, good governance and inclusivity is a priority for the United States. Nigeria and the Cedar Seed Foundation can count on the United States readiness and commitment as a strategic partner to support your efforts to provide services that support persons with disabilities to participate in all aspects of life, including elections,” Schlieman said.

The founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Cedar Seed Foundation, a nongovernmental organisation, Lois Auta, said women and girls with disabilities should be considered for elective and appointive positions saying the time to be included in governance structure is overdue.

She urged PWDs to vie for political office stating that it’s by doing so that they can fight for the rights of their constituency by giving them true representation.

“Women and girls with disabilities are at the zero level of government involvement in appointive and elective positions and this is sad. We want to be included in governance structure in Nigeria. We’re tired of exclusion and under-representation.

“We are qualified but did not have the platform for representation. I charge women with disabilities to run for political office. This will give us the opportunity to challenge the challengers and ensure that we are included,” Auta said.

The national programme officer of CSF, Shedrack Danladi, while presenting the report said it assessed the level of participation of PWDs, women, and youth in the 2023 general election and also examined whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the electoral system worked to ensure inclusivity in the (election) process.

He called for stakeholders’ engagement to ensure that the electoral process is inclusive “in a manner that addresses the specific needs of PWDs using PWD disaggregated data for such planning purposes will be vital. Engagement with INEC and other stakeholders would be useful in this direction.”

The deputy executive director of CSF, Rose Daniel, challenged the PWDs to continue to fight for their rights and urged them to contest elections in Nigeria.

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