PWDs Raise Budget Exclusion Concerns, Propose Gender-Responsive Solutions in Kaduna
By Uangbaoje Alex, Kaduna
Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Kaduna State have raised concerns over their continued exclusion from public budgeting and resource allocation processes, calling for deliberate gender-responsive and disability-inclusive approaches to address persistent inequalities in government spending.
The concerns were highlighted during a step-down training on Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) organized by the BEACON of Transformative and Inclusive Development Center (The BEACON) in collaboration with the Tax Justice and Governance Platform (TJ&GP) Kaduna.
The one-day engagement, held on Saturday, December 27, 2027, brought together persons with disabilities and civil society actors to examine gaps in the state and local government budget processes and identify practical solutions for inclusive governance.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Director of The BEACON, Abigail Olatunde, said many public budgets fail to adequately reflect the needs of persons with disabilities due to limited participation, weak data, and inadequate equity considerations.
She noted that this exclusion often results in underfunded social services, inaccessible infrastructure, and missed opportunities for economic empowerment.
She stressed that gender-responsive budgeting provides a practical framework for correcting these gaps by ensuring that budget planning and implementation deliberately account for the needs of women, men, and persons with disabilities.
According to her, inclusion must be backed by capacity building, accessible information, and sustained engagement platforms that allow marginalized groups to influence decision-making.
The training addressed key challenges within Kaduna State’s budget system, including limited awareness of the budget cycle, weak citizen engagement, and poor transparency at the sub-national level.
Sessions focused on basic budget concepts, equity tagging, transparency mechanisms, and entry points for citizen participation in budget formulation, implementation, and monitoring.
Participants also examined advocacy strategies aimed at strengthening accountability and ensuring that disability-related priorities are reflected in state and local government budgets.
During breakout sessions, participants identified priority concerns such as inadequate funding for disability-inclusive infrastructure, limited access to education and healthcare services, and the absence of disaggregated data to inform budgeting decisions.
As solutions, they proposed stronger engagement with budget offices, collaboration with civil society groups, and sustained advocacy for equity-based budget tagging.
The organizers noted that the step-down training is part of broader efforts to amplify the voices of persons with disabilities in public finance discussions and to promote transparent, inclusive, and responsive budgeting processes in Kaduna State.
