The COVID-19 pandemic has brought untold hardship to many
families and individuals in Nigeria. One of the worst-hit are
women with disabilities for some reasons.
Generally women are affected by economic crises for the
following reasons;
They tend to earn less than men and have fewer savings
Women are more likely to be saddled with unpaid care and
domestic work (Source; unwomen.org)
For women with disabilities, the situation is far bleaker. Even
before the pandemic, women with disabilities have higher
unemployment rates than those without disabilities because of
barriers such as physically inaccessible transport; lack of provision
of sign language interpreters and captioning assistance for the
deaf and hard of hearing; negative attitude and discrimination by
employers; education and training that is not inclusive of people
with disabilities.
Majority of women with disabilities are in the informal sector with
many involved in vocational business like hair dressing, interior
decoration, catering, bead work etc. The lockdown imposed as a
result of the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected the
businesses of these women.
With this background in mind, Isonye Foundation, in July 2020,
organized a palliative program for women with disabilities with
funding from The Intentional Women Africa organization.
Fifty women in Lagos and Asaba went home with food items such
as rice, beans, palm oil, Knorr cubes, and vegetable oil. They also
carted home sanitary pads, hand sanitizers and face masks.
These women were from different disability clusters including the
deaf, physically-challenged and visually-impaired.
The Asaba event had a health talk by Dr. Ijeoma Nnodim, the
Executive Director of Isonye Foundation titled "Prevention of
COVID-19 infection and Boosting Your Immune System. Sign
language interpretation was provided.
The excited participants listened avidly and also asked questions
on other health issues. Dr. Ijeoma gave them her phone number
to contact her if they had any health questions to ask later. Light
refreshments were provided.
The Lagos event was equally fantastic. The Founder of The
Intentional Women Africa, Udunma Ikoro, gave a talk titled, "How
to Live a Happy Life even in Difficult Situations and Manifesting
Your Greatness as a Woman"
Her assistant, was also on ground to help make the event a
success.
The efforts of Mrs Amaka Adekoya and Mrs Chinyere Onah are
appreciated as they took charge of the logistics of the event.
Isonye Foundation expresses her gratitude to The Intentional
Women Africa for funding the program and putting a smile on the
faces of these women with disabilities especially with the
economic recession induced by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
