In September 2024, Commonwealth Alumnus Dr Charles Chukwuemeka Okolie delivered a training workshop for healthcare service providers in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria to raise awareness of inclusive healthcare services and improve access to healthcare for gender and sexual minority individuals.
Dr Charles Chukwuemeka Okolie is a public health physician working in the development sector in Nigeria. He isa health program implementer and a consultant in gender, sexuality and reproductive health. Dr Okolie is also a researcher in gender and sexuality studies collaborating with the department of primary care and population studies at the University college, London.
His activity promoted the ACEF theme, Gender and sexuality.
Strengthening inclusive education for children with disabilities in Nigeria
Ifeoma Nwakama with the Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission
Between 21-22 November 2024, Commonwealth Alumnus Ifeoma Lilian Nwakama delivered a two-day workshop to promote access to education for children with disabilities and discuss national legislations on the rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria.
Ifeoma Lilian Nwakama is the former Director of Research at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Nigeria. She has also served on the governing board of the Universal Basic Education Board in Abuja, Nigeria.
Her activity promoted the 2024/25 ACEF theme, Disability inclusion in institutions.
Understanding disability rights in Nigeria
According to United Nation’s Population Fund 2021 data, it is estimated that 32 million people including children in Nigeria, live with some form of disability. Children with disabilities experience disrupted education for various reasons including, stigma and discrimination, inaccessible school infrastructure, delayed identification and diagnosis, and a lack of funding to support their needs.
Nigeria has clear policies and legislations on inclusive education to improve all children’s access to quality education. The 2018 Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act outlines provisions for inclusive education, right for free education, and subsidised education for children with special needs.
However, the terms inclusive education and accessible education are often used interchangeably, meaning education policies and rights for these learners are not effectively implemented, increasing the risk of neglecting children with disabilities. There is a need to increase awareness on the difference between the two terms amongst key stakeholders to improve services for children with disabilities.
Promoting collaboration
Ifeoma hosted the two-day workshop at Bukhari Bello Auditorium at the NHRC, Abuja, Nigeria.
Leveraging on her previous role as the Director of NHRC, Ifeoma brought together key stakeholders from government agencies working on education, disability and child rights to discuss ways of strengthening disability inclusion in education.
Participants of the workshop
The workshop was attended by 58 participants, including civil servants from the Ministries of Education, Youth, Justice and Humanitarian Affairs, and representatives from the Universal Basic Education Board, Secondary Education Board, National Orientation Agency, and National Commission of Persons with Disabilities, alongside representatives from disability-rights based NGOs.
Stakeholders were selected based on their position to use the discussions to influence and promote the implementation of policies on equal access to education for children, especially those with disabilities. Sessions were delivered by expert on disability rights and education for children with disability.
Protecting and promoting the rights of children with disabilities
Dr Tony Ojukwu, Executive Secretary of the NHRC, launched the workshop. In his keynote speech, he thanked participants for responding to the invitation and lauded the facilitator, Ifeoma Nwakama, for focusing on this important aspect of the work of the Commission and for partnering with them. He promised the full support of the Commission in stepping down this activity to the States.
Following the keynote speech, leaders and stakeholders from the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD), Federal Ministry of Education, Chairman, Abia State for Welfare of the Disabled Persons, and Joint National Association of persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) delivered goodwill messages.
Day one focused on the laws and policies protecting and promoting the rights of PWDs and encouraged problem solving amongst attendees on ways of promoting the right to education for children with disabilities. Discussions were supported by formal presentations, including a session on the challenges of achieving inclusive education for children with disabilities in Nigeria and across sub-Saharan Africa. Some of the challenges highlighted included effective implementation of legislations and policies around improving access to education for all.
Access, inclusion and opportunity
Day two explored best practices in making education inclusive and accessible for children with disabilities across Africa.
Along with Ifeoma, Mr Abdulrahman A Yakubu, Former Director, Legal NHRC, co-delivered a session on, ‘Achieving full integration of PWDs into the Society: An overview of Nigeria’s discrimination against PWDs (Prohibition) Act, 2018 and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Right on the Rights of PWDs in Africa’.
Mr Yakubu discussed the Protocol adopted by the African Union, a major legal instrument which outlines specific provisions addressing the unique challenges faced by PWDs. He appealed to attendees to actively monitor and evaluate public policies and laws in Nigeria to integrate the needs and protect the rights of PWDs.
Benson Olugbuo, Lawyer and Principal Partner of a public interest litigation company and immediate former Country Director of the Centre for Civilians in Conflict, discussed the opportunities for the protection of the right to education of children with disabilities through laws and policies in Nigeria, highlighting the Provisions in National Policy on Education and Disability Act. He clarified that inclusive education is often misunderstood as integration of learners with learning disabilities but is in fact a rights-based approach providing equal rights and access to quality education.
Mr Obinna Anyaele, Chairman, Abia State Commission for the Welfare of Disabled Persons, Umuahia, spoke about the assessment of the implementation of Inclusive Education Policy in Abia State.
He raised the challenges preventing the implementation of the policy, which include stigma and discrimination from teachers and students, a lack of social acceptance, institutional barriers including a lack of enforcement of legal frameworks and disability experts in the education sector, and inaccessible school infrastructure. He drew the stakeholders’ attention to Section 32 of the Abia State Commission for Disabled People Law which outlines the provisions and right to education for every child with disability in Abia.
Mr Christian Agbo
Mr Christian Agbo, Secretary, Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) and Executive Director of Qualitative Magazine wrapped up the wo day event with a session on the challenges in achieving inclusive education for children with disabilities in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa. He stressed on the importance of inclusive education as a tool to promote equity enabling children with disabilities to participate fully in society.
Strengthening connections
The workshop was successful in promoting awareness on the rights of children with disabilities in Nigeria by engaging government stakeholders involved in policy influencing and implementation. Verbal feedback gathered from participants indicated that there was a need for increased awareness on rights for children with disabilities amongst government stakeholders.
Ifeoma intends to continue to work with NHRC offices across all 36 states of Nigeria to scale the awareness activity. She will also collaborate with attendees to encourage ongoing best practice sharing and problem solving to strengthen inclusive education for children with disabilities.
Ifeoma is a 2008 Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholar from Nigeria. She completed a MA in Public Policy and Management from University of York.
