By Mercy Aikoye
The Global Disabilities Green Initiative (GDGI), a non-governmental organization, has launched a pioneering effort to empower 10,000 Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) as green leaders by 2030. According to the founder, Mrs. Angelina Ugben, this initiative aims to harness the potential of PWDs in driving sustainable development and promoting inclusive environmental action.
At the unveiling of the initiative’s five-year plan at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, Ugben emphasized that PWDs are not problems to be solved but rather pioneers to be empowered. “This is not charity, it is justice in action,” she has declared.
The initiative’s mandate includes equipping PWDs with clean energy skills and entrepreneurship opportunities, as well as ensuring that climate policies are co-designed with, rather than for, PWDs. This approach seeks to tap into the innovation potential of PWDs and create adaptive, disability-smart solutions in critical sectors such as agriculture, energy, and technology.
Ugben highlighted some of the initiative’s early achievements, including the planting of 50 symbolic trees in Karon Majigi, FCT, in partnership with the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD). Additionally, GDGI has trained 25 PWDs in solar photovoltaic installation and distributed 100 solar lamps to students in underserved communities.
The Chairman of the House Committee on PWDs, Hon.Bashiru Dawodu, commended the founder for the initiative, expressing pride in the organization’s efforts. He noted that PWDs in Nigeria face numerous challenges, including discrimination and limited access to employment opportunities. “It is because of the belief that these challenges cannot be ameliorated without legislation that the National Assembly passed the Discrimination against Persons with Disability Act in 2018,” he said.
Dawodu emphasized the significance of the law, which protects the rights of PWDs in Nigeria. He also highlighted the committee’s mandate to monitor compliance and implementation of the law, stating that they have begun this process and will provide updates in the near future.
The Deputy Director of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Garba Magaji, represented the minister and commended the initiative. He pledged the ministry’s support and collaboration, saying, “We are going to partner in ensuring that people with disabilities are taken care of.”
The initiative’s vision for an inclusive green economy resonated with stakeholders, who acknowledged the need to prioritize the inclusion of PWDs in sustainability efforts. As Ugben aptly put it, “PWDs must no longer be left out of the sustainability equation.”
