ESLF SUPPORTS DRAC’S CALL TO DOMESTICATE DISABILITY RIGHTS ACT IN BENUE STATE.

As part of activities to mark this year’s International Day for Persons with Disabilities, Eunice Spring of Life Foundation (ESLF) has lent its voice to the call for domestication of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 in Benue State, an Act that prohibits discrimination against Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) on the basis of disability and imposes sanctions including fines and prison sentences against violators.

Programme Manager ESLF, Tine Agernor who made the Foundation’s stand known during an advocacy rally in Makurdi organised by Disability Rights Advocacy Center – DRAC to push for the domestication of the Disabilities Rights Act in the State, affirmed ESLF’s commitment to inclusion for PWDs in the scheme of things.

Speaking at the rally, Executive Director of DRAC, Dr. Irene Ojiugo Patrick-Ogbogu Patrick-Ogbogu, decried the discrimination against PWDs and urged the State legislature and the Executive to work speedily to authorize its application in the State.

In their separate responses when the rally train arrived their office premises, Deputy Clerk of the Benue State House of Assembly, Mr. Oliver Ochinya and the State Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General, Mr. Mike Gusa pledged support for accelerated hearing and domestication of the Act to enable PWDs benefit from its rich provisions.

The vision of ESLF of “a society without barriers to decent living” dovetails into DRAC’s mission “to facilitate the full participation of vulnerable groups especially persons with disabilities including women and girls in all aspects of life by addressing the drivers of discrimination and exclusion” in our society.

The theme of this year’s International Day for Persons with Disabilities is “’Transformative Solutions for Inclusive Development; The Role of Innovation in Fueling an Accessible and Equitable World’.