DISABILITY INCLUSION TRAINING
The training is geared to help participants to develop knowledge,skills and attitude needed to prioritize the rights of persons with disabilities.
It is also designed to help participants gain in-depth understanding of disability and become more aware of approaches to disability inclusive development.
Participants were made to understand types of impairments. An Impairment defined as the absence or significant difference in a person’s body structure or function or mental functioning.
The facilitator differentiated the impairment into Physical, Mental , Sensory and Intellectual Impairment.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) Barriers come in different forms; attitudinal, physical, communication and institutional.
Barriers are limitations imposed on persons with permanent impairment.
Institutional barriers are created when there are no legal framework for disability Inclusion.
In Nigeria, prevalence of disability has been estimated at 15 percent of the total population by the World Health Organization African Region
.The total rate of disability breaks down as follows:
• 45 percent seeing
• 15 percent hearing
• 11 percent speaking
• 14 percent mobility
• 6 percent mental
•9 percent other
According to a Research Made on Gender and Disability
Women with disabilities face double discrimination and it is more in Countries without an Institutional framework like Nigeria.
• The literacy level of women with disabilities is 1 percent vs. 3 percent for persons with disabilities
• Women make up three-quarters of persons with disabilities in low- and middle- income countries like Nigeria and other African countries.
• Women with disabilities are almost twice more likely to be unemployed than men with disabilities (ILO, 2009)
• They are 2-3 times more prone to sexual violence than their peers without disabilities .
• Women without disabilities in households with members with disabilities
• Stigma and discrimination
•Poverty and lack of support
• Physical, mental and financial stress
An assent to the Disability Right will protect and make adequate provision for persons with Disabilities to access information and opportunities. Nigeria is a signatory to the Convention on The Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES (CRPD) The CRPD is the most comprehensive legal framework of the 21st century.
It is a legal framework for ensuring the inclusion of persons with disabilities.
It consists of 50 Articles that speak to all aspects of life for persons with disabilities As of 5 January 2022, there were: • Ratifications – 184 •
Signatories – 164 Nigeria signed the CRPD in 2007 and ratified in 2010.
The CRPD’s Principles are (Article 3): 1. Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one’s own choices, and independence of persons 2. Non-discrimination 3. Full and effective participation and inclusion in society 4. Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity 5. Equality of opportunities
The step down training was quite engaging, as participants asked key questions on attitude, policy and effective Inclusion mechanism for persons with disabilities.
Organisations invited for the step down training made commitments to design a disability friendly policies and champion for the rights for persons with disabilities.
