Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Bauchi State have commended the USAID funded State2State Activity for engaging them in the implementation of their activity.
The PWDs said that since inception of the USAID State2State Activity in Bauchi State, PWDs had been engaged at every level and that such engagements had provided them the platform to voice out their concerns especially with regards to accessing healthcare, inclusive education and WASH services.
The commendation was given by the Secretary General of the Joint National Association of PWDs (JONAPWD) Bauchi State Chapter, Iliya Isma’il, on Thursday 5th December, 2024 at a roundtable dialogue to celebrate the 2024 International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), organised by USAID State2State Bauchi field office.
Isma’il said that since the unveiling of the USAID State2State Activity in Bauchi State, Persons with Disabilities have had series of interface with State actors and that those engagements has created synergy between the State Government and PWDs.
“During activities of State2State, we are being brought face to face with State Legislators, that sometimes, includes the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, Directors and other high level Government officials. Ordinarily, we may not have access to some of these personalities to table our concerns, but the engagements that are being facilitated by USAID State2State Bauchi field office has been given us such opportunities to interact with them. Such interactions are yielding results because some of our concerns are being addressed, but a lot more needs to be done for our people by the Government”, said Isma’il.
Buttressing the points, the Executive Secretary of the Bauchi State Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Hon. Brisca Joram Aaron equally commended USAID State2State for paying attention to the plight of PWDs in the State and pushing for the mainstreaming of gender and social inclusion in governance.
Represented by the Director of Administration and Human Resources in the Agency, Bala Dalhatu, the Executive Secretary said that, not only does USAID State2State carry along PWDs in their activities, but the Agency too is benefiting from their interventions.
“Very recently, USAID State2State Bauchi field office, in collaboration with the Agency organised 4 days capacity training on sign language interpretation for the Agency’s desk officers across the 20 LGAs of the State. This had never happened before, it also paved the way for the Agency to sustain such trainings beyond the life span of USAID State2State Activity”, said the ES.
Earlier in her remark, USAID State2State Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) Coordinator, Chabiyada Eli said that the objective of the roundtable dialogue was to sensitize stakeholders on the importance of creating a supportive environment for persons with disabilities to feel valued, respected, and cared for.
Eli said that the dialogue will also highlights the essential role of persons with disabilities in shaping a more inclusive and sustainable environment and calls for their active participation in decision-making processes.
Our Correspondent reports that, other objectives of the dialogue include:
- Reflection on challenges and celebrate the resilience, contributions, and leadership of persons with disabilities.
- Facilitate avenues to amplify the voices of people with disabilities with the collaboration of stakeholders and identify opportunities to accelerate progress towards a more inclusive society, and
- Advocate to Government to enact and implement policies that support Inclusion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities.
The roundtable dialogue attracted DPRSs, Gender Desk officers of all health, education and WASH MDAs, PWDs Clusters, Implementing Partners and officials of the State Agency for PWDs.
