Ensuring people with disabilities are included

As part of this approach, we brought together disability organisation members, government representatives and consortium partners for a series of workshops. The initial three-day workshop had more than 50 participants joining both remotely and in person in Abuja.

After many reviews and consultations, we drafted an intervention plan. Two co-creation groups were created, one focusing on media intervention and the other one on community activities. We held two further five-day workshops in Abuja to develop a social behaviour change approach and a wide range of communication activities, including a radio drama.

My role, as a member of Sightsavers’ web, design and brand team, was to participate in discussions to make sure we could co-create project communication materials in a way that adequately reflected the experiences and concerns of people with disabilities.

Creating characters that acknowledge people’s lives

Communication materials relating to sexual and reproductive health don’t usually acknowledge the lives of people with disabilities or answer questions they might have.

This can leave people feeling they don’t have the power to make informed choices. During the workshop, we discussed how to make sure information would be relevant and easy to digest. The characters from the radio drama include strong women with disabilities of different ages and circumstances. These women served as a foundation for the creation of social media posts, animations, informational leaflets, and other content.

For example, we were inspired by a character from radio drama called Lucy, a visually impaired woman who faces opposition from her mother-in-law when she and her husband want to access family planning services. We also included Zinaru, a disabled woman who leads a local organisation for people with disabilities, navigating the challenges of balancing her career and personal life.

Another character is Asabe, a young social media influencer with a physical disability, who is determined to raise awareness among individuals with disabilities regarding their sexual and reproductive health rights. Asabe encounters opposition from her father and discrimination in the workplace. She struggles to make her mother understand her desire to pursue further education before getting married.