The Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs, LASODA, has provided Special Intervention Fund to strengthen the operation of fourteen registered Organisations of Persons with Disabilities, OPDs, across the state.
The General Manager of Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs, LASODA, Adenike Oyetunde-Lawal, said in Alausa, Ikeja, that the initiative was designed to provide direct financial support to registered disability clusters to improve their capacity to deliver grassroots services.
She said the fund of two million naira each given to fourteen registered clusters would support disability rights advocacy, livelihood and vocational programmes, welfare initiatives and other activities aimed at promoting the inclusion and economic empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, PWDs.
According to Oyetunde-Lawal, “the intervention, approved by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was aimed at strengthening disability organisations to better support their members amid current economic challenges”.
Oyetunde-Lawal urged the beneficiaries which were the 14 Organisations of Persons with Disabilities, OPDs, that received the Financial support to promote fairness, equity and collaboration among themselves and with governments at the local, state and federal levels, as well as corporate organisations.
Oyetunde-Lawal said the intervention reflects the Lagos State Government’s commitment to social inclusion and the principle of “Leave No One Behind”, while strengthening community-based structures that support persons with disabilities across the state.
Beneficiaries commended the Lagos State Government for the Special Intervention Fund and its various social inclusion’s initiatives aimed at strengthening support for people with disabilities.
One of the beneficiaries, the Lagos State Chairman of the Albinism Association of Nigeria, Tolani Ojuri, commended LASODA for its continued support, particularly in cancer care, education and empowerment of persons with albinism.
Ojuri urged beneficiaries to use the funds judiciously and ensure that the impact of the intervention could be demonstrated when seeking further support from the government.
