A nongovernmental organisation “Cedar Seed Foundation”, has advocated immediate implementation of Article 29 of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and section 30 of the Nigeria Disability Act 2018 by the federal, state and local governments in the country.
The project officer, Disability Inclusion in Governance of the Foundation, Comrade Shedrack Danladi, made the call recently during a rally and world press conference organised by the foundation in partnership with Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, with funding support from the MacArthur Foundation, which held in Kagoro, Kaura local government area of Kaduna state.
Danladi stated that the call became necessary because of the lack of proper implementation of the 2018 Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities Act, clause 54 of the electoral Act 2022. This, he noted, led to the continuous marginalisation of women in governance and underrepresentation in elections and political participation.
He reaffirmed the need for proactive measures to be taken to achieve and sustain the goal for inclusivity in electoral processes, especially post 2023 elections and future elections.
The project officer lamented that despite the launch of a charter by Network of Women with Disabilities with WRAPA and MacArthur Foundation earlier in February this year, which contains 11 articles for key actors to implement; presently, women and girls with disabilities in Nigeria are at a zero percent level of participation in governance.
