Osun State government has been urged to sign the National Disability law and to reduce the application of charity-based approach in addressing disability issues.
The Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, CCD, made the call during the presentation of the report of the Equal Voting Access, EVA, survey on the July 16th Governorship election in Osun State.
The CCD believed that once the law is in force, it would make holistic provisions for funding and other matters connected with People with Disabilities, PWDs.
The presentation signed by the Executive Director, Centre for Citizens with Disabilities Mr David Anyaele also called on INEC to take bold steps to improve on Accessibility of Polling units for PWDs in Osun State, particularly for those on wheelchairs and crutches.
The CCD said election materials and facilities should be made accessible for all PWDs, including Form EC40H at the Polling Units, and assistive resources such as sign language interpreters, tactile ballot jackets, Braille ballot paper and magnifying lenses,
It expressed the hope that Election Day ad-hoc staff had been trained to appreciate their roles.
It called for the mainstreaming of PWDs issues in public sensitizations to reverse negative public perceptions and attitudes towards them.
CCD also urged INEC to encourage deaf voters to come with personal sign language interpreters to the Polling Unit to minimize communication gap between the Adhoc Staff at the Polling Units and the Deaf voters.
The Centre appealed to Media houses in Osun State and other media election stakeholders to take appropriate measures to mainstream people with disabilities in their narratives on the election to ensure inclusivity in media engagements on the elections.
Adenitan Akinola
pub-5160901092443552
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