MAIL: gracejjerry@gmail.com

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Grace Jerry Official

About Me

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About Me

Grace Alache Jerry is a Human right/Disability advocate, Peace promoter, a Recording artiste and a strong gender advocate with special interest Democracy and ending violence against women and girls with disabilities. She has brought freshness to advocacy efforts through her unique blend of passion and music, bringing prominence to the important roles of persons with disabilities and women in development. She is working to create an inclusive world where everyone counts. Within the last few years Grace has brought freshness to advocacy efforts in Nigeria through her unique blend of passion and music bringing prominence to the important roles Persons with disabilities can play in National development.

She is the founder and Executive Director of Inclusive Friends Association. A Mandela Washington Fellow of the Young African leaders initiative (2015 cohort). First ever Ms. Wheelchair Nigeria Queen (2011/2012) and formal official Spokesperson on Disability in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) with Water Aid Nigeria.

Since 2012, Grace Jerry and Inclusive Friends have organized special benefit concert tagged “Music for Toilets” to provide awareness and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene facilities for schools serving children with Disabilities in Plateau State, Nigeria. As parts of her effort alongside inclusive friends and the former Minister federal ministry of Water resources, they provided 20 water system toilets and 4 solar powered bore holes for some of the special schools in Plateau state, Nigeria.

Since emerging as the first ever Ms. Wheel Chair National Queen on African soil and Grace has remained consistent in her passion to mainstream disability in key development ever since. From ensuring inclusive access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Peace building and increasing space for vulnerable groups to participate in Nigeria’s democracy, Grace has shown her passion for inclusion at all levels.

Grace Jerry is a strong gender advocate with special interest on ending violence against women and girls with disabilities. In August 2014 the Nigerian Stability and Reconciliation Program (NSRP) of the Department for International Department (DFID), Inclusive Friends an organization she founded undertook a groundbreaking study on ‘What violence means to us; Women with disabilities speak” documenting the experiences of Women with Disabilities in the face of violence conflicts in Plateau State with findings from study already shaping policy processes, actions and programming at state levels in Nigeria currently.

Her organization has worked with Disability rights fund (DRF) to advocate for increased budget allocation to implement Nigeria’s National sexual and reproductive health policy for Women and girls with disabilities. Also working with ‘Making it Work’ (Humanity and Inclusion) on an empowerment scheme to grant Women with disabilities who were victims of gender based violence GBV capacity to speak up against it and be self-dependent from their violators.

In June 2015, Grace Jerry participated in the Young African Leadership initiative of President Barak Obamas Mandela Washington fellowship at the United states of America where she joined other 500 young Africans to undergo 6 weeks leadership exchange program. Highlight of the event was production of YALI tribute song by Grace Jerry and having the honor of introducing President Barak Obama on stage during the Presidential summit town hall meeting organized by the American president in Washington DC.

On Sept. 1 2015, in Abuja, Nigeria, Grace Jerry joined National democratic institute NDI and its civic education partner, International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA)in launching “Stop Violence Against Women in Elections” (Stop VAWIE) campaign through the production of a theme song for the campaign. The campaign will document and report data on incidents of violence against women, engage with election officials, security services, women’s groups and others to mitigate violence and organize civic education around preventing violence against women in elections. The Stop VAWIE campaign is part of Votes without Violence, NDI’s global campaign to address gender-based violence in elections.

“Governance begins at the ballot” is motivation quote Grace Jerry shares. In her efforts to promote inclusion in Nigeria’s democracy, Grace Jerry, Convener of the Access Nigeria campaign led her team and conducted Africa’s first and second Polling Unit Accessibility Audit during the Edo and Ondo governorship elections through a project tagged Access Nigeria. The Access Nigeria project is a leading movement by PWDs in Nigeria that inspires PWDs to participate actively as candidates and voters during elections in Nigeria.

She lead her team to make history again when the Access Nigeria campaign influenced and assisted Nigeria’s electoral accessibility reforms for women and men with disabilities during nine off-cycle governorship elections and one presidential election. Below are some of the accessibility reforms influenced by IFA on the NDI-supported Access Nigeria Campaign:

  • 1. The introduction of Braille ballot guides for use by voters with visual impairments for the first time in Nigeria’s electoral history. IFA designed this guide which was adopted by Nigeria electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
  • 2. The introduction of election day written instructions to guide voters with hearing impairments on how to vote. This too was designed by IFA and adopted by INEC.
  • 3. IFA contributed to the advocacy for the development of a Framework on Access for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) by Nigeria’s electoral body.
  • 4. IFA contributed to the passage and signing into law of Nigeria’s Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act through sustained advocacy.
  • 5. She led IFA in the repealing and the reenactment of the Electoral Act 2022 an amended.

    • Since 2015, IFA has had a strong and stable leadership in Grace Jerry, person with a physical disability (Paraplegic). Grace is passionate about issues concerning Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and women, which are the center of IFA programming. She has also built a team of creative young people who have the skills and independence that ensures IFA’s programs are well managed. IFA’s programs like Nigeria’s first polling unit accessibility audits for PWDs and research work on how violence affects women with disabilities in Nigeria provided data that has led to evidence-based advocacy to address the barriers PWDs and women face.

    She has also led her team in 2018 to the Now Us! Award where the Access Nigeria projects won the third place prize among 419 different practices across Africa and Asia. She is currently working to improve the electoral processes for PWDs in Nigeria and has also begun engagements with other advocates in other African countries like Kenya, Mali, Congo, etc. to extend the network effects of PWDs in Africa. At the core of her engagements are young persons with disabilities who work with her to drive various initiatives in across various states in Nigeria.

    She is a recipient of numerous accolades and awards nationally and internationally and sits on diverse boards and committees, She has recorded songs, feature and minister alongside great singers in Nigeria and beyond, some of songs are: ‘I love you’, E go Happen, Moonlight, Hold on, worship you, Take Responsibility to bring awareness on health measures for PWDs during the covid 19 pandemic and also recorded the theme song (Unstoppable) for the ADAs 30th Anniversary with support from the US department of State and the US Mission Nigeria

    Grace Jerry is the founder of the Inclusive Friends Association, an organization that works to bring disability issues at the heart of development efforts in Nigeria through research, advocacy, campaigns, Music and action.

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