Government has apologized to the Ghana Federation of the Disabled for not including them in the on-going National Economic Forum at Senchi in the Eastern Region.
Acknowledging the anger expressed by the Federation after their exclusion from the national forum, Deputy Information and Media Relations Minister, Felix Kwakye Ofosu noted that the action was an oversight and not deliberate.
“Government will not set out to deliberately disregard the views of any particular sections of our society,” Kwakye Ofosu told Joy News.
A-400-strong assembly of economic experts and thought-leaders have gathered at Senchi putting ideas together to resolve Ghana’s economic challenges that have become pronounced since last year.
The Federation of the disabled is unhappy they were not invited to the event. Advocacy officer of the federation, Isaac Tuggun, told Joy News they feel marginalized and discriminated against.
“Anytime we are having such national programs they exclude us”, he lamented.
Referring to WHO and World Bank reports, Mr. Tuggun called the exclusion “a great stigmatization” and quoted the UN convention on disability, which states that people with disability “should be closely consulted and actively involved in national programs”.
Ghana is a signatory to the UN convention http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/convention/convoptprot-e.pdf on disability.
Meanwhile, the deputy minister has ruled out any new entrants into the Forum, which is expected to end on Friday, May 16.
According to him, “a lot of progress has been made already”, adding that “it will be a bit difficult”.
But all is not lost, he assured.
“Even after this forum, a lot of opportunities will be created for groups such as the Ghana Federation for the Disabled to air their views”, Kwakye Fosu guaranteed.
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