CCD urges inclusion of PWDs in HCDT empowerment
The Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) has urged the Ibeno Host Community Development Trust (HCDT) to ensure that persons with disabilities benefit fully from its empowerment programmes, scholarships, employment opportunities and other development initiatives.
The Akwa Ibom State Coordinator of CCD, Mr Joseph Atang, made the appeal on Thursday during an advocacy visit to the Ibeno HCDT in Ibeno Local Government Area of the state.
Etim Ekpimah
The Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) has urged the Ibeno Host Community Development Trust (HCDT) to ensure that persons with disabilities (PWDs) benefit from its empowerment programmes without discrimination.
The Akwa Ibom State Coordinator of CCD, Mr Joseph Atang, appealed on Thursday during an advocacy visit to the Ibeno HCDT in Ibeno Local Government Area of the state.
Atang called on the trust to adopt an inclusive approach that recognises the rights, needs and contributions of persons with disabilities in community development.
He urged the board to ensure that PWDs in the host community had equal access to its empowerment programmes and other benefits.
He also advocated the participation of persons with disabilities in community consultations, needs assessments and other decision-making processes to ensure that projects reflected their needs.
Atang said the Petroleum Industry Act provided a framework for developing host communities through the establishment and operation of HCDTs, stressing that persons with disabilities should not be excluded from the benefits.
“Our concern is to ensure that persons with disabilities, who are also members of these communities, are not overlooked in the implementation of the Act.
“Disability should not be a reason for exclusion from community development, employment opportunities, educational support, empowerment programmes or other benefits available through the HCDT,” he said.
The CCD coordinator added that development projects could not be considered complete if persons with disabilities could not access or use them.
He said CCD was committed to promoting independent living, human rights and the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in development processes, with support from the Ford Foundation.
Responding, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Ibeno HCDT, Mr Samuel Thomas, said the board had taken steps to include persons with disabilities in its activities.
He said one person with a disability served on the board, while another had been employed as an accountant.
Thomas added that some PWDs had benefited from the board’s empowerment programmes, while children and wards of persons with disabilities had received scholarships.
“I will not call them persons with disabilities; I call them people with special abilities.
“So, we have done one or two things for them. Some have received scholarships, while others have benefited from our empowerment programmes.
“We have also procured and distributed hearing aids. About seven PWDs have benefited from our empowerment scheme,” he said.
The board chairman, however, urged CCD to develop a comprehensive database of persons with disabilities in Ibeno to help the trust identify their needs and plan appropriate interventions.
“For us to plan well and be able to reach out to everybody, we need to have a database,” he said.
Thomas also urged persons with disabilities in the community to remain united, work together and support one another.
He added that the Ibeno HCDT had empowered more than 500 indigenes, in addition to its interventions for persons with disabilities.
According to him, the board awards scholarships of ₦250,000 per academic session to undergraduates, while students with a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of at least 3.5 receive ₦400,000 to encourage academic excellence.
