Foundation empowers 68 women with disabilities in FCT
The Steps to the Top Leadership Center (STLC) has said that the number of women with disabilities in the FCT empowered in its ‘Thinkable 2’ Project has risen to 64. The Founder and Executive Director of the STLC, Dr. Teresa Nwachukwu, said this on Monday in Abuja at the second phase of ‘Project Thinkable 2’, […]
The Steps to the Top Leadership Center (STLC) has said that the number of women with disabilities in the FCT empowered in its ‘Thinkable 2’ Project has risen to 64.
The Founder and Executive Director of the STLC, Dr. Teresa Nwachukwu, said this on Monday in Abuja at the second phase of ‘Project Thinkable 2’, Mentors and Mentees orientation programme for those that would work with the women beneficiaries, including those that were beneficiaries of the first phase and who are now mentors and volunteers.
She said the programme would run for one year and is sponsored by the Netherland Government through Voice Nigeria, under the OXFAM International Foundation.
She also urged the federal government to mandate every public space to be accessible to people with disabilities, saying that there were universal standards of how public places should accommodate people with disabilities.
“There are universal standards of how high a toilet should be for a person on a wheelchair to move between them. Those standards should be maintained. There is a standard of where the door knob should be.
“Everything should just be made accessible to people with disabilities. Policies need to be changed, government should improve accessibility to public transports, healthcare, social services, education among others, for persons with disabilities,” she said.
Nwachukwu said that the program among others was aimed at shifting the mindset of women with disabilities in Abuja, to build confidence in them to realise their personal ambition for societal development.
She said, “We found out that one of the problems of women with disabilities is lack of self-confidence. Most of the activities that people do for people with disabilities are always like charity or empowerment, trainings and giving grinding machines, for example.
“We felt that there is a gap, and that was what our project sought to fill. We did project Thinkable 1, which had three thematic areas including leadership development and community service,” she added.