Jela’s Development Initiatives (JDI), a non-profit organisation, on Saturday staged an advocacy walk for the mental health of youths with disabilities and their family members.
Angela Ochu-Baiye, the founder of JDI, said in a statement in Lagos that the NGO was supported by Liliane Fonds through the Leprosy Mission Nigeria.
She said: “Our goal is to draw public attention to the many forms of discrimination that persons with disabilities face every day, the effect it has on their mental health and consequently, the need for a more inclusive society.”
Ochu-Baiye, who urged Lagosians to come out and join the walk, to put on the front-burner the stigmatisation which people with disabilities grappled with.
She added that some persons with albinism, dwarfism and sickle cell anemia as well as members of the deaf and blind clusters would be part of the walk.
The founder said the advocacy walk, as a component of a larger project, involved free group therapy sessions for persons with disabilities and their family members.
He said it would culminate in a final report to be shared with relevant stakeholders for improvement in policy implementation.
Ochu-Baiye expressed gratitude to Liliane Fonds and the Leprosy Mission Nigeria for being a champion of inclusion in the country while using the opportunity to call on all stakeholders to take necessary actions to end all forms of discrimination against persons with disabilities.
She said that the walk kicked off on Saturday at 7:30 a.m.from the Teslim Balogun Stadium (Under the Bridge) to 22B, Amosu Street, Off Bode Thomas Street, Surulere, Lagos. NAN