The Disability Rights Advocacy Center (DRAC) has called on all stakeholders to continue to work together to ensure the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act is in full force.
Irene Patrick-Ogbogu, Executive Director, DRAC, in a statement sent to Legit.ng on Saturday, May 18, stated that the work is not yet done, while emphasizing all actors must continue to work together to ensure continued advocacy, collaboration and take rigorous steps towards:
1. Awareness creation on the provisions of the act
2. Establishment of the National Disability Rights Commission
3. Budgetary allocation for the implementation of the act and
4. Implementation at state level
“These will champion a more inclusive society where 28 million Nigerians with Disabilities can participate and contribute to societal development,” she noted.
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She, however, commended the National Assembly for passing, transmitting, and gazetting the Act, noting that it prohibits all forms of discrimination against persons with disabilities and makes provisions for their full participation in the society.
“Gazetting the Act now makes it part of laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is a huge step towards ensuring that persons with disabilities can pursue legal action for any form of discrimination on the grounds of their disability,” she added.
“DRAC is extremely thankful to President Muhammed Buhari who assented to the Act on January 23, 2019, the National Assembly, Organizations of Persons with Disabilities, civil society organizations and development partners who supported all the processes that led up to this,” she concluded.
On Thursday, March 14, DRAC launched a simplified version of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act.
Patrick-Ogbogu in her opening remarks explained that it is not enough to sign the Act without implementation but its implementation will not only be a victory to people living with disbilities but to the society at large.
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Source: Legit.ng
