Friday, December 2 is the International Day of Persons With Disabilities.A day set aside by the United Nations to promote better understanding of disability issues with a focus on the rights of persons with disabilities and gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of the political, social, economic and cultural life of their communities.The theme for this years International Day is Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want. The theme notes the recent adoption of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the role of these goals in building a more inclusive and equitable world for persons with disabilities.In a statement to mark the day, the Executive Director, Centre for Citizens with Disabilities David O. Anyaele expressed worry that few states had passed the disability law.According to Mr Anyaele We are worried that few states in Nigeria (Ondo, Lagos, Ekiti, Plateau and Bauchi States) have passed disability law, a legal framework that protects citizens with disabilities from exclusion and discrimination on the grounds of disabilities.The Disability Advocate said Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Since 1992, the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) has been celebrated annually on 3 December around the world.This years objectives include assessing the current status of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and SDGs and laying the foundation for a future of greater inclusion for persons with disabilities. The observance of the 2016 IDPD coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the adoption of the CRPDone of the most quickly and widely ratified international treaties put forth by the United Nations to date.The Executive Director expressed worry that Federal and State governments programmes and development activities are designed at the exclusion of persons with disabilities which is a big threat to attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals in the year 2030.Acknowledging that Nigeria had signed the United Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities including its optional protocols, he saidthe SDGs will not be achieved if state and none state actors continue to discriminate, isolate and marginalize over 25 million Nigerians with disabilities in planning and implementation of the SDGs in NigeriaThe Advocate called on President Mohammadu Buhari to take appropriate measure to ensure that the 2017 budget is designed at the inclusion of over 25 million persons with disabilities in Nigeria; that without that Nigeria will not make progress in their development efforts.He also appealed to the leadership of the National Assembly to inaugurate without delay the Joint Conference Committee on the Disability bill to enhance the finalization of the legislative process on bill before its transmission to the President for assent.The CCD further urged State governments to make inclusion and participation of citizens with disabilities in governance and development programmes of the State a priority as it is very expensive and difficult to live with disability without government support.He urged organisations of, and for persons with disabilities not to relent in their efforts of promoting and creating awareness on the disability issues at Local, State and Federal level to enhance public understanding, as nothing about us with us.Mr Anyaele also thanked the media and specifically the Leadership Newspaper for their continued support to the efforts of the disability community towards increasing the voice of the voiceless and the most vulnerable of the vulnerable group (Nigerians with disabilities) in our society through inclusive reportage.
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