Benin’s social protection drive has reached a fresh milestone. Social Affairs and Microfinance Minister Véronique Tognifodé has formally handed over 1,422 new Equality of Opportunity cards to persons living with disabilities. The handover lifts the total number of cards produced by the National Agency for the Identification of Persons (ANIP) and passed to the ministry for phased distribution nationwide to more than 6,100.
What the card actually unlocks
Created under the law on the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities, the Equality of Opportunity card is more than a routine administrative document. It works as a legal and social instrument designed to secure priority and preferential access to a set of essential services:
- Healthcare: preferential pricing and free access to certain specific treatments or orthopaedic devices in public health facilities.
- Education and training: exemption or reduction of tuition fees in public institutions, plus priority access to study and vocational training grants.
- Transport and employment: easier access to public transport and measures to encourage socio-professional integration in the public and private sectors.
At the ceremony, Minister Tognifodé said the initiative reflects the government’s aim of turning vulnerable people into genuine “privileged citizens of the Republic”, breaking down the barriers of stigma and economic exclusion.
Data reliability and nationwide rollout
The issuance process relies on strict traceability handled jointly with ANIP and the network of One-Stop Social Protection Centres (GUPS) operating in the communes. Every applicant undergoes a medical assessment carried out by state-approved doctors, which formally establishes the disability rate and the nature of the disability before the card is produced.
Speaking for the beneficiaries, the Federation of Associations of Persons with Disabilities of Benin (FAPHB) welcomed the continuity of the programme while urging families and rights-holders to complete the formalities at the GUPS to claim their entitlements. ANIP and the Ministry of Social Affairs are continuing distribution operations across the country’s 12 departments to process the thousands of files still under review.
