WWF Launches Project For Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria To Mark World Refugee Day on June 20th
The Waltson Wheelchair Foundation (WWF) today announced a project to deliver mobility to Benue State IDPs with physical disabilities. Persons with disabilities are often disproportionately affected by crisis. The Foundation has launched a fundraising campaign to sponsor wheelchairs, canes, crutches and walkers to be sent to Benue State IDPs camps.
Over 460,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are currently living across Benue State, Nigeria, largely driven by persistent farmers-herders conflicts and armed attacks on communities in local government areas like Guma, Makurdi, Agatu, Logo, Kwande, and Gwer West.
In an interview, our Founder Prince O. Emereonye stated, "We are so pleased to extend our programming to Benue State. Every day we see the impact of the gift of mobility in our work. A wheelchair brings independence, dignity, hope and opportunity to whole families. Suddenly a child can attend school, a parent can return to work, caregivers can re-enter society. WWF’s wheelchairs are designed especially for the rougher terrain of Africa."
The majority of persons with disabilities reside in Africa and live in moderate to extreme poverty. An estimated 100 million people worldwide need a wheelchair but cannot afford one. Ongoing conflict and civil war have increased disability rates to as much as 20% of the population in some countries.
Join the Waltson Wheelchair Foundation this World Refugee Day to celebrate our common humanity and open your hearts to refugees and internally displaced persons everywhere. Recall the strength, courage, and determination of those that have needed to flee their homes due to relentless violence.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: "Refugees are people like you and me. They led ordinary lives before becoming displaced, and their biggest dream is to be able to live normally again." The Waltson Wheelchair Foundation is a well-established, independent Nigerian charity whose mission is to provide a wheelchair to every person who needs one, but has no means to acquire one. It works with individual donors and corporations as well as partners like you, schools, and religious organizations to sponsor mobility aids.
