Cross River Launches Statewide Survey On Persons With Disabilities

Cross River Launches Statewide Survey On Persons With Disabilities

The Cross River State Bureau of Statistics has flagged off the Persons with Disabilities and Social Inclusion Survey, a statewide data-gathering exercise designed to provide accurate information for inclusive planning and service delivery for persons living with disabilities.

Speaking at the flag-off ceremony, the Statistician-General of Cross River State, Mrs. Akedoh Edet Okoi, said the survey goes beyond collecting numbers, but seeks to understand the lives and experiences of persons with disabilities across the state.
She said the exercise would provide information on where persons with disabilities live, the challenges they face, their access to essential services, and their participation in the social and economic life of their communities.

The Statistician-General appealed to residents to cooperate with survey officers and enumerators by providing accurate information, while urging the field teams to conduct the exercise with professionalism, dignity and compassion.
She stressed that the data would enable government and relevant stakeholders to identify gaps, design targeted interventions and allocate resources more effectively, thereby building a more inclusive state.

She disclosed that the survey would cover all 18 local government areas of the state, adding that enumerators would list households in selected enumeration areas and interview households with persons living with disabilities on issues including education, health, employment, social protection and community participation.

The Vice Chairman of the State Planning Commission, Pastor Bong Duke, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Commission, Mr. Kingsley Eyibio stated that the exercise was in alignment with Governor Prince Bassey Edet Otu’s “People First” agenda.
He noted that persons with disabilities form an integral part of families, communities and the workforce, stressing that government cannot plan effectively for people whose realities it does not fully understand.
The survey, he said, would strengthen planning, budgeting and policy decisions while supporting more targeted interventions.

Also speaking, the Director-General of the Cross River Geographic Information Agency, Mr. William Archibong, welcomed the initiative, describing it as a critical step towards generating inclusive data that would also feed into national planning and future census exercises.
He added that the Agency would provide technical support by deploying the state owned Cross River Geographic Information System CRGIS for Collection analysis, display and storage of the data from persons living with disabilities, This, he said is an example of interagency collaboration with CRGIA and integration with CRGIS.

Representing persons with disabilities, the Chief Social Welfare Officer, Mr. Etim Esuk, appreciated the State Government for promoting the inclusion of persons living with disabilities in the Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu-led administration.

The flag-off marks the beginning of a process expected to produce reliable evidence that will help ensure that no resident of Cross River State is left invisible in data or left behind in development.

The ceremony, held at the Geographic Information Agency in Calabar, brought together officials of the State Planning Commission, the National Population Commission, the National Bureau of Statistics, ministries, agencies, organisations of persons with disabilities, development partners, the media and field enumerators.