Nigeria to facilitate provision of assistive technologies for PWDs

The federal government said on Tuesday it would speed up the process to facilitate the provision of assistive technology (AT) to people with disabilities (PWD) to improve their healthy lifestyles. 

Hijia Sadiiya Umar Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, said this in a keynote address during the validation meeting of the national roadmap on local production of TA for people with disabilities. in Abuja.

The minister, who was represented by Alhaji Bashir Alkali, the permanent secretary of the ministry, noted that AT would help people with disabilities meet the required target of 3.8 of the Sustainable Development Goals on universal health coverage.

According to her, as Nigeria is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), member states commit to ensuring that people with disabilities have access to assistive technology and mobility aids. affordable.

“The importance of TA in the lives of people with disabilities cannot be overstated as it enables them to lead healthy, productive, independent and dignified lives.

“However, it is sad to say that most of the people who really need these technologies find it very difficult to access them because they are not readily available and if they are available they are also expensive.

“The government, everyone, must therefore commit to making these devices available and affordable to those who need them.

“So that through the use of TA, the barriers are removed, thereby improving their physical and mental capacities, which in turn will lead to a greatly improved quality of life,” said Farouq.

She said that it is on this basis that the stakeholder validation meeting was convened as a critical step for the development of a national roadmap on local production of TA for people with disabilities.

Farouq noted that the roadmap was designed to provide guidance for the production, supply and distribution of TA in Nigeria. He added that “it is also about ensuring quality control in the local production of TA for people with disabilities in Nigeria, helping to provide an environment conducive to job creation, among others. Objectives

“The draft roadmap captures both the global and Nigerian context of TA, it has x-rayed the current situation of people with disabilities in Nigeria,” said Farouq. Likewise, the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu congratulated Farouq and his team for the important role they played in the lives of people with disabilities in the country.

Adamu was represented by Mr Aisuedion Abel, Deputy Director of Special Education at the Ministry of Education. He urged participants to be diligent and thorough with their end result so that the government has a track record to be proud of.

Speaking, Ms Nkechi Onwukwe, Director of the Special Needs Department of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, said the meeting was a demonstration of the federal government’s commitment to ensure that people with disabilities are self-reliant, independent and that their needs are met. matters of well-being are taken into account.

Onwukwe, who represented the permanent secretary, said the ministry had organized a stakeholder advisory forum and on-site assessment, visited 36 states and the CTF to identify local TA producers and what the government could do to help them. support.

Meanwhile, the lead consultant, Mr Rilwan Abarshi, praised the efforts of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, adding that the roadmap would provide employment and job creation opportunities in the country. “As a consultant, we are happy to bring people here to think about how we can ensure that people with disabilities have meaningful, useful and enhanced lives with a high level of independence and easy mobility/” (NAN)

(NAN)