By Okechukwu Okechukwu
The Anambra State chapter of Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), weekend, inaugurated a women wing, Association of Anambra State Women with Disabilities (AASWoWD).
AASWoWD, which has over 150 members, consists of four cluster groups of people with disabilities (pwd) such as National Association of the Blind (NAB) Women Wing, Anambra State Association of the Deaf (ASAD) Women wing, Anambra State Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities (ASPWPD) Women wing, and Anambra State Albinism Association (ASAA) Women wing.
Speaking at the event held at Awka, the Anambra State capital, the State Chairman of JONAPWD, Comrade Ugochukwu Okeke, said they launch one woman, one skill, a project geared towards ensuring that all their female members have sources of income, become self reliant, employers of labour, as well as contribute positively to development of any society where they found themselves.
According to Okeke, under the scheme, every woman living with disability whether working working class, jobless or student would be trained for free and provided with necessary resources and supervision to grow the business or skill.
"I encourage you to bring more women with disabilities on board because there are a lot to gain. We don't want to see people begging for alms on the street again. You all have skills. You have potentials. Tell us what you can do or what you want to do. We will sponsor you, train you, give you capital to start and supervise you to make sure you succeed in the business and employ others," he added.
Contributing, Mrs Eucharia Aniekwe, who represented the Chairman, Anambra State Disability Rights Commission, Barr. Chuks Ezewuzie, assured support of the commission and Anambra State government to their course.
Aniekwe also encouraged the women with disabilities to study and understand applicability of Anambra State Disability Rights Law (2018) and other relevant laws of the land, including the constitution, because with knowledge of these, they would overcome discriminations.
Also speaking, the representative of Anambra State Civil Society Network, Mrs Tina Igbasi, urged the group not to look down on themselves, adding that they would support all the programmes and actions geared towards their upliftment and achieving their goals.
Earlier, the woman leader, Association of Anambra State Women with Disabilities (AASWoWD), Comrade Ncheta Nwanokwara, said the group came into existence to stop all forms of discrimination against women with disabilities, including negative attitudes of the society against them with regards to marriage and employment.