NGOs in Volta Region to meet assemblies on PWD inclusiveness

By
Sumaiya Salifu Saeed, GNA

Ho, July 19, GNA – Non-Governmental
Organizations in the Volta Region working on various forms of disability are to
engage Municipal and District Assemblies on enhancing inclusiveness of persons
with disability in local governance.

The STAR-Ghana funded one-year project would
cover the Ho, Ketu North, South Dayi and Ho West Assemblies.

Ms Kerry Brown, Director, Kekeli Foundation,
at a stakeholder meeting in Ho said though PWDs, comprising 10 per cent of the
country’s population have their rights enshrined in the constitution, they
hardly enjoyed them, hence the engagements with stakeholders.

“Although their rights are guaranteed in both
the constitution and international conventions, in reality these provisions
have offered them very little protection against discrimination”, she said.

Ms Brown said Act 715 spelt out safeguards for
PWDs on issues of rights, access to facilities among others but the reality on
the ground is different.

She said they were meeting the Assemblies on
the issue of accessibility as stipulated in the Disability Act to make all
public buildings accessible to PWDs.

Ms Brown said a large number of public basic
schools lacked good quality facilities to cater for disabled children who form
a significant portion of school drop outs in the country.

Madam Charlotte Kpogli, Policy Analyst,
Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), said the interaction with
Assemblies would involve engaging budget officers on including PWDs in budget
formulation.

She called for increased awareness creation on
issues of PWDs and called on policy makers to help enforce such laws at the
local level.

GNA

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