Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) is a local organisation based in Abuja that works to promote the rights of children, women and men with disabilities in Nigeria through advocacy, music and action.

IFA envisions a world where people with disabilities are supported to live fulfilled lives in their own communities. This is done through the following thematic areas:

• Elections and Inclusive governance;
• Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
• Inclusive Education; and
• Peace Building (Access to Justice).

As one of the winners of the NOW-Us Awards, Access Nigeria advocates for inclusive elections 2019.

Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) are greatly marginalised from participating in Nigeria’s electoral process because voting polling units are not always physically accessible to those that are unable to walk or have impaired walking. With technical and financial assistance from the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) and its partners are conducting an evidence-based advocacy to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to implement the recommendations from their #Disability Votes Matter# report. IFA influenced the piloting of Braille ballot guides during the September 2018 governorship election in Osun state to assist voters with visual impairments to cast their ballots without assistance. This was the first time an Election ManagementBody in Nigeria would take such a step. IFA also influenced the introduction of PWD-specific Election Day written instructions code-named EC30PWD by INEC to assist voters with hearing impairments to cast their ballots without assistance, and others.

In this phase, IFA would continue to work with its advocacy allies to ensure that INEC sustains the use of the new Braille ballot guide, Election Day written instructions and sign language interpreters during the 2019 general elections. In the last phase of the Access Nigeria Campaign, IFA secured a commitment from INEC that they would fully deploy the Braille ballot guide for the 2019 general electionsbased on the lessons from the Osun pilot. IFA would hold INEC to account on this and others.  IFA will also lead a National Day of Action by PWDs and carry out sustained advocacy visits to INEC to build power and hold the Commission to account, respectively.

With Voice support, IFA conducts voter education and Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaigns (community and media) to encourage PWDs to vote their preferred candidates through the production and dissemination of short video series on social media. IFA also recruits and trains volunteers to assist and puts pressure on PWDs to collect their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2019 general elections. IFA also documents the level of access in the Elections from pre-election period to the post-election period through a survey with special tools like survey monkey to ascertain the level of participation by PWDs voters, availability of accessible voter education materials, voting materials and post-election engagements. This is documented through their pool of volunteers and the data from this process informs their post-election engagement with all stakeholders addressing barriers to participation in the electoral process. This report is shared online, through social media and partners# websites.

The overall goal of the AccessNigeria’s campaign is to improve the participation of PWDs in Nigeria’s electoral and political processes.