GBV: Women with disabilities in Borno commends UNFPA

Women with disabilities in Borno have commended the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) for building their resilience as they struggle to survive numerous challenges. A cross section of the women revealed to Newsmen in Maiduguri on Sunday that through sustained interventions from the fund, they learnt how to protect themselves and seek redress against Gender-Based violence (GBV).

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One of the women,  Hafsat Mustafa, said “as one of the beneficiaries of services provided by the UNFPA One Stop Centre where I learnt the skills of soap making, I am now empowered and self reliant. Many motorists in the area where I reside buy liquid soap from me to wash their vehicles. Some of our members that got skills no longer roam around begging, a condition that made them susceptible to GBV and other abuses. We thank UNFPA for the enlightenment on healthcare alongside the empowerment support; we really appreciate them.”

Mustafa, however, said that one of the problems they are facing is discrimination in some government hospitals and would like government to address the issue or assign health facility or personnel to attend to them.

“We have disability and deserve some concession in hospitals; we should not be made to join long queues for hours to be attended to,” she added.

On his part, Mohammed Abubakar, the state’s Chairman of the National Association for Persons with Physical Disability, urged other organisations and stakeholders to emulate UNFPA by reaching out to all categories of people.

He said that latest support from UNFPA reached 160 of his members comprising 80 men and 80 women.

“We have been collaborating with them in the past four years which has been memorable,” Abubakar said.

NAN/Wumi