On Thursday, July 11, 2024, the Department of Human Development and Social Affairs, through its Directorate of Humanitarian Affairs, organized a workshop in Lomé, Togo, to launch the activities of the ECOWAS support programme for providing functional equipment to disabled children in Togo. The aim of this activity is to assess, together with stakeholders, particularly the Ministry in charge of social inclusion, associations and federations of disabled people and partners, the urgent needs for functional equipment that ECOWAS could acquire and offer to disabled children to facilitate their social inclusion in Togo.
To promote social inclusion and reduce the vulnerability of children aged between 1 and 17 living with a disability in West Africa, the ECOWAS Commission approved a budget of $200,000 at the beginning of 2024 to implement the pilot phase of the programme. This initiative will support and supply functional equipment to disabled children. The pilot phase will run for 12 months covering Nigeria and Togo and will be gradually extended to other Member States in 2025.
The initiative was launched in Lomé by Mr. Bileba N’GMEBIB, Secretary General representing H.E. Madame Adjovi APEDOH-ANAKOMA, Minister for Social Action, Family Promotion and Literacy of Togo. Present were Dr. Fernando Jorge ALVES D’ALMADA, Principal Programme Officer for Social Affairs representing Fatou SOW SARR, ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs; representatives from the ECOWAS Permanent Representation and National Office in Togo; leaders and members of associations and federations of disabled people in Togo; and partners.
In his welcome address, Dr. Fernando Jorge ALVES D’ALMADA conveyed ECOWAS' gratitude to Togolese authorities: “as part of the implementation of its 2050 vision from an ECOWAS of States to an ECOWAS of peoples,” it is vital that “the social inclusion of people with disabilities is carried out in the spirit of leaving no one behind.”
Following this address were goodwill messages from Mr. Gratien AKPAKPO NUMADO, President of the Federation of Persons with Disabilities in Togo (FETAPH), and Ms. Pelagie BOKO-COLLINS, Representative for Togo and Benin at Sight Savers.
In his official opening speech, Mr. Bileba N’GMEBIB thanked ECOWAS for this programme while highlighting initiatives taken by the Togolese government to promote social inclusion: “The project we are launching today is the very expression of the shared concern...to take account of the specific needs... It is the culmination...that has enabled us to mobilize resources needed.”
Following various presentations, group work sessions identified items that ECOWAS could acquire to support disabled children in Togo. The finalized list will be officially transmitted to ECOWAS by end-July.
A regional study on disability inclusion within ECOWAS reports approximately 240 million disabled children worldwide. UNICEF notes around 15% of children aged 0-17 are disabled in West and Central Africa (UNICEF, 2021). These children face marginalization and multiple discrimination due to inadequate protection at both individual and institutional levels.
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