COVID – 19: FG Harps on improving welfare of PWDs in Nigeria
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouk has reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to improving the welfare of People Living with Disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria to cushion the effect of COVID – 19 Pandemic ravaging the country.
Sadiya while speaking in Abuja on Thursday at the Disabilities Stakeholders’ meeting noted that the Federal Government has placed priority on assisting PWDs with policies and programmes which when executed by the Ministry will ensure inclusion and improve the wellbeing of all PWDs in the country.
According to Sadiya, the Ministry has mandates to develop PWDs friendly policies and attend to their welfare considering Nigeria which currently has an estimated 25 million persons with disabilities and 15-20% of the country’s 190 million population are PWDs according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank 2011 report projection.
Meanwhile, Sadiya noted that the meeting is apt and timely especially in the challenging period of COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is expected that we factor how PWDs can benefit from federal intervention aimed at cushioning the effect of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown”
” The utmost objective of this meeting is that at the end of it, we should come up with modalities on how to carry PWDs along plans and activities of the Ministry as well as find out the gaps in policies and challenges facing persons with Disabilities in Nigeria”
“This will enable us to come up with and prioritized solutions for immediate and long time actions”. She added.
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Albinism Foundation Africa, Jake Eppelle opined that the PWDs has a department in the Ministry and the issue of data should be looked into.
“The issue of data is a great concern and this has greatly affected the distribution of relief materials to the vulnerable in our communities today”.