Group advocates entrepreneurship support for women with disabilities

On Apr 3, 2024

An NGO in Bauchi State, Women with Disability Integrity Development Initiative (WDIDI) has advocated for support to boost entrepreneurship skills for women with disabilities. Hajiya Asmau Yahaya, Executive Director of the group, told the Newsmen on Wednesday in Bauchi that such support would enable the women to become entrepreneurs.

She said that available data indicated that people with disabilities were more likely to be unemployed or inactive.

“But even those who are fortunate enough to be employed are usually doing low-skilled and low-paying jobs. That is why we are advocating, at all levels, individuals and organisations to support entrepreneurship drives for people with disabilities who should be considered to become entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is an ideal employment avenue for people that want to take advantage of the perks of starting their own business,” she said.

The Executive Director said some of them engaged in the village savings loan where after sharing out; they all got a token to start up something for themselves.

“That’s greatly influenced people with disabilities to become entrepreneurs, but there are other significant factors. For people with disabilities, Self-employment may prove their only shot to enter the labour market as they face severe discrimination at the workplace. Employers tend to deal with disabilities with greater prejudice, while most of the time, workplaces do not have the necessary arrangements to support disabled employees,” Yahaya said.

She added that another advantage of entrepreneurship for persons with disabilities was self-employment and self-empowerment.

“Working on their own in a suitable work environment that can accommodate their needs is beneficial to their well-being since they do not constantly feel limited by their condition.

Yahaya, however, appealed for support for entrepreneurship skills to people with disabilities across the state.

NAN/Wumi