DRAC Engages Media To Enhance Advocacy On Sexual And Reproductive Health And Rights For Women And Girls With Disabilities

The Albino Foundation Public Notice

The Disability Rights Advocacy Center (DRAC) has engaged media professionals in Abuja to raise awareness and fostering media advocacy on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) for Women and Girls with Disabilities (WGWD).

The Executive Director, DRAC, Dr. Irene Patrick-Ogbogu, in her welcome address asked media to increase awareness on SRHR issues as they affect women and girls with disabilities.

Dr. Irene Patrick-Ogbogu said “Persons with disabilities face exclusion. Women and girls with disabilities face it more in all aspect of life, particularly in SRHR related issues.

“In DRAC, we have been doing a lot in addressing the challenges that women and girls with disabilities face. One of the major things we have done is working with the Federal Ministry of Health to have a policy that addresses these issues, the National Policy on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with emphasis on Women and Girls.

“The policy has been active for 5 years, we are in the process of reviewing the policy, to examine the impact and way forward. We are also working with the media to see how well the media has done in helping us promote issues related to SRHR.

“We are working on identifying the success stories of the policy, the gaps and recommend the way forward.

“We know we have challenges with media reportage, in this meeting, we are going to discuss how the media roles will help in the agenda for SRHR especially for PWDs

“We want to explore the role of the media in helping us further the agenda on SRHR, as Women and girls with disabilities have has faced exclusion.

The DRAC Program Officer, Balqis Bolaji Amou, took the media through the National Policy on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with Emphasis on Women and Girls, the activities and success stories of DRAC in addressing issues related to SRHR.

Amau spoke on the SRHR challenges faced by WGWD, and explore how media can shape the narratives.

The meeting affords opportunities for the media to exchange ideas on best practices and how to promote positive narratives as well as drive impactful advocacy.