Projects

ONGOING-Inclusive Budgeting Towards Accessible Facilities & Services in Ekiti State

Group picture of participants at a one day validation meeting on the Accessibility Audit Report of Public facilities and services in Ekiti State.

THE ISSUE

Even though persons with disabilities accounts for 15% of the entire population of Nigeria ditto to Ekiti state according to World Bank Report and construction professionals being aware of disability standards in the design and construction of public and private facilities, they still do not construct public spaces to accommodate the needs of all users especially persons with disabilities by installing appropriate access facilities and this has been found to be as a result of low awareness on disability rights, lack of proper budgeting and planning and capacity gap on the part of PWDs to advocate for their rights. This neglect or discrimination limits them from fully achieving their daily goals and aspirations.

 

Part (II) Section 3-8 of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disability (Prohibition) Act 2018 and same part and sections in the Ekiti State Disability Law 2020 clearly made provisions for accessibility for persons with disability but duty bearers still fail to adhered to it. This include unfettered access to physical structures, access to information such as information in braille format for the visually impaired and sign language interpreter in public places and functions and broadcast media such as television stations.

 

It has however been observed that every good policy on any issues of importance requires an inclusive and participatory budget to perform optimally and effectively. For every government offices, schools, hospitals etc to be fully inclusive and accessible, it requires an inclusive and participatory budget line to be fully implemented ditto to recruitment of sign language interpreters into television station, health facilities and other public functions. This has led to poverty, limited access to health facilities leading to aggravated illnesses, limited access to school premises resulting in low enrolment of students in our schools as well as increased number of out-of-school children with disabilities, inability to access decent buildings for accommodation or shops for the self-employed etc. The overall objective of the project is to advocate for compliance with the National Disability Act in Nigeria and the Ekiti State Disability Law by realizing the rights of persons with disabilities to access to public facilities and services on an equal basis with others.

 

DRF logo
A participant at a 2-day Organizational Development Training signing the attendance sheet
A Group photograph at the 2-Day Organizational Development Training held in Ado Ekiti

WHAT WE WILL DO

In view of the foregoing, DINABI Nigeria with funding from Disability Rights Fund (DRF) will among other things:

  • Carry out an accessibility audit of public facilities and services in Ekiti
  • Recommend solutions towards achieving access for persons with disabilities
  • Train persons with disabilities in Ekiti State on the budget cycle
  • Review the 2023 Ekiti State budget, and mobilize PWDs to track implementation
  • Carry out advocacy visits to key stakeholders and duty bearers.
  • Create awareness on the rights of persons with disabilities through the media to garner public support.
  • Provide Technical support to government MDAs on accessibility and disability-specific issues on request at no cost.

OUR ADVOCACY ASK

  • Creation and Increased disability-specific budget lines towards accessibility.
  • Procurement/Construction of Ramps, handrails and other accessibility aids in offices of government, Schools, hospitals etc.
  • Training of Key staff of line MDAs on Basic Sign Language
  • Employment/Deployment of Sign Language interpreter in at least Three key hospitals in Ekiti state, Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ekiti State Television (EKTV) for news and Public functions.
  • Design of public documents e.g Budget, Laws and Policies in braille format.

ONGOING- COVID-19 WEEKLY RADIO PROGRAM & OFFICE OF THE CITIZENS

PROJECT CONTEXT

The weekly radio program on New Cruse 92.7FM tagged Office of the Citizen is a one hour radio phone-in program every Wednesday in Ekiti state in collaboration with Enough is Enough (EiE) with support from BudgiT and Innovation for Change Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic emerged in China in December 2019 before spreading across the world. The pandemic caught the world unaware and governments seem unprepared. Our reality changed, and we are left to embrace the ‘new normal’.

 

In response, Nigerian governments mobilized donations from corporate entities, private individuals and donor agencies to support the government’s efforts for cash transfers and other interventions. As part of the responses, private companies formed the Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID). This is a private-sector task force in partnership with the Federal Government, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) with the sole aim of combating COVID-19 in Nigeria.

The task force was tasked with pulling resources across industries to provide technical & operational support and funding to address salient issues related to COVID-19. As of June 2020, the CACOVID Fund with the Central Bank of Nigeria was N30 billion. Nigeria also requested $3.4 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which was approved in April 2020. Asides from these, wealthy individuals and others like religious institutions provided financial support to the government. It is however important to support government officials to ensure complete eradication of the pandemic while also ensuring accountability, equity and fairness in the process.

COVID-19 VACCINATION

More than a year after WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, researchers have developed several vaccines to help fight against the deadly virus. The federal government of Nigeria has purchased over 29,850,000 doses, however, the arrival of the vaccines have been met by several conspiracy theories.

According to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), as of August 22, 2022, 41.2 million Nigerians have received the 1st dose of COVID-19 and 29.1 million Nigerians have received the second dose of COVID-19 vaccines despite having a population of over 200 million.

OFFICE OF THE CITIZENS

The second segment of the one hour weekly radio program will seek to x-ray the political and electoral system/process in Nigeria and recommend ways of improvements towards credible, fair and acceptable elections in Nigeria. Electoral umpires, Civil society actors, Persons with disabilities, Political parties, security agencies and other critical stakeholders shall be brought on the platform to dissect issues and proffer short, medium and long term solutions to credible elections in Nigeria.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

  1. To increase awareness around COVID-19 and efforts by governments and private organizations.
  2. To increase community engagement/response and bridge the gap between citizens, the government, MDAs and relevant stakeholders on COVID-19 vaccination.
  3. To facilitate a transparent and accountable allocation, disbursement, and management of COVID-19 funds and palliatives.
  4. To increase voters turn out in the 2023 General Elections and other subsequent elections.
  5. To ensure a free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria.
  6. To create awareness on the need for citizens to actively participate in the political and electoral process in Nigeria.

ONGOING - HOME GROWN SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAM MONITORING

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