Special Assistance to the Governor of Abia State on Disability Matters, Mr David Anyaele said the State government is committed to create enabling environment for persons with disabilities and called on civil society organisations to help drive the vision of Dr Alex Otti in realising the dream.
Anyaele stated this on Friday May 24, 2024 at Aguiyi Ironsi conference centre, Umuahia during a 2-Day Workshop on “capacity building of CSOs and Public Institutions on disability-inclusive programs and practices”.
The event was organised by the Center for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) in collaboration with Project Enable Africa with support from the US – Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund.
He urged people not to attribute disability to pay back of sins committed by their ancestors, adding that the society has a role to play to see that persons with disabilities are not molested or discriminated about.
According to him, the aim of the workshop was to see that persons with disabilities participate in economic activities on equal basis with others.
He maintained that the government of Dr Alex Otti is taking steps to promote equal opportunity in particular people with disabilities not just in social, but in economic growth which starts from enhancing and building their capability and capacity for them to respond to economic benefits of the State.
Anyaele added that people with disabilities or civil society organisations that lack proper understanding of government economic policies, programs and activities may struggle much more to address their challenges, hence the event would put certain challenges through.
He noted that there is a connection between corruption, poverty and disability. He however observed that abuse of resources which includes public infrastructure, health care, quality education lead to poverty, while poverty has been identified as the major driver of disability.
Anyaele admonished the public to work hand in hand with the government to ensure that government efforts to bring comfort to disabled people is achieved by not just creating opportunities or infrastructure but preserving them for the purpose of common good. The Special Assistance on Disability Matters added that abuse and looting of public infrastructure will lead to poor health, education and environment which will aide disability to spread like desert fire.
He further pointed out that more than four hundred thousand Abians are disabled in one way or the other according to international statistics standard. David Anyaele also assured that Abia State Governor has promised to set up Disability commission but appealed to stakeholders to be patient for the Governor to deal with certain barries before the establishment of the commission.
On Thursday May 23rd, the Chairman of physical challenge persons in Abia State, Iroabuchi Alozie and Chairman spinal cord injuries, David Onuoha called on government at all levels to make policies that will improve their welfare in the society.
Speaking on the topic, “promoting inclusive economic opportunities and community resilience for persons with disabilities”, the acting director of CCD, Godwin Unumeri described policy as a framework with the potential to optimize the general well-being or address a social problem using the following steps , defining the problems assessed by the policy, policy implementation among others.
According Unumeri, the policy issue must affects many people, have significant impact on the community, the issue can mobilize a large number of interested stakeholders to gain support. He said the workshop was necessary because persons with disabilities have been excluded from activities of public institutions, policies hence the program was put together to sensitize the public on how to include persons with disabilities in their programs.
Unumeri stressed that the workshop can help the people understand the need to include persons with disabilities in their activities.
Therefore, he said participants after the training can present their challenges to policy makers, while the civil society organisations were captured to support persons with disabilities in government activities, help them identify policy issues and how to tackle them.
Meanwhile, National Watch reports that the workshop featured the following lectures:
-Understanding Disability Rights And Advocacy
-Public Policy Analysis And Engagement
-Inclusive Workplaces Culture and
-Inclusive Budgeting
