AFWID 2025: Nigerian Advocate Demands for Increased Disability Inclusion

A Nigerian disability advocate, Jennifer Abomnger, has highlighted a disconnect between African women living with disabilities and those without. Abomnger made this submission during a panel discussion on the topic, “The Future We Want: Reimagining Our Future Beyond Beijing”, done as part of the activities for African Women in Dialogue 2025, AFWID 2025.

While noting the need to quit seeing disability as a condition rather than a social inclusion issue, she praised the existence of disability laws in most African countries and emphasized the need for people living with disabilities in all their diversity to be given reasonable accommodation in African women’s activities, and beyond.

Speaking with Chioma Uzoukwu, a journalist and one of Nigeria’s delegates to the dialogue, after her opening address, CEO of Women Development Business, WDB Trust, Mama Riah Phiyega stated that “The issues that affect African women unite them. They are common issues that may have nuances in terms of areas or regions, but they happen in all spaces, hence the need for women to dialogue”.

Activities of AFWID 2025, held in Johannesburg, South Africa also included breakaway sessions, where attendees discussed different topics, providing a platform for women to share their experiences and recommendations for creating positive change. Dolapo H. Osunsina, Co-founder of hFACTOR, who spoke at one of the breakaway sessions, stressed the importance of mentorship as a way to help women activate and productively use their power.

Speaking on the way forward, Nigerian Beijing veteran, Dr Timiebi Koripamo (OON) emphasized the need for negotiations and dialogue with men. “I think most of us see men as adversaries, and that mindset won’t help us,” she said. “Women played a significant role in resolving the Mano River Basin crisis. We must remember that men are our brothers, fathers, uncles, and husbands. We should come together, engage them in negotiations, and put forward resolutions.”

When sharing her thoughts on the outcome of the dialogue during a conversation with the Nigerian journalist, Dr Chinyere Chukwudebelu, a member of AFWID 2025 steering committee, expressed satisfaction with its planning, and delivery, highlighting that for a movement of such magnitude, cohesion was achieved irrespective of the cultural nuances, and differences in language and religion of the over 1000 women from 55 African countries who attended the dialogue.

She rejoiced that attendees left the dialogue with a great sense of belonging, knowing that they have sisters every where in Africa.

On the recommendations and resolutions reached during the dialogue, Dr. Chukwudebelu, the Coordinator for AFWID in Nigeria, and Regional Leader for Anglophone and Lusophone West Africa, who led a delegation comprising 14 Nigerian women to the dialogue, categorically stated that there is already laid down plan to engage with her team to regionalise the dialogue, which she believes will enable deep regional dialogue around gender as issues are similar within regions.

She further mentioned the plan to constitute an inclusive inter-sectoral group in all the countries in her region to review and domesticate the AFWID resolutions as applicable to them, and organize regional meetings to review each country’s plans for alignment with the overall objective of Afwid, among other things.

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