The National President of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD), Mr Joseph Atsu Homadzi, has reiterated the need for a swift passage of the revised Persons with Disabilities bill and the full enforcement of disability rights in the country.
He said it was time policymakers moved beyond policy commitments to tangible action.
Mr Homadzi made the call at the commemoration of this year’s National Day of Persons with Disabilities in Accra last Tuesday.
The event, which was to highlight the progress made in disability inclusion while drawing attention to persistent barriers in education, employment, healthcare, accessibility and social participation, was on the theme: “From act to action: Finalising reforms and enforcing disability rights now and beyond.”
Objective
Mr Homadzi indicated that the occasion was a reminder to the public of the existence of the Disability ACT and the need for all stakeholders to comply with its provisions.
“We want to use this occasion to create awareness of disability issues in Ghana.
The theme for today is from Act to Action.
What it is telling us is that the expectation of GFD moving forward is action.
We want to see more action from all angles,” he stressed, saying disability issues were fundamental human rights issues which required collective responsibility.
“The biggest problem we are having in Ghana is not about our disability.
It is about the social barriers which are preventing us from achieving our God-given talents and potentials,” Mr Homadzi added.
Government commitment
While updating stakeholders on commitments made by the government to persons with disabilities, Mr Homadzi said, due to engagements between disability groups and the Ministry of Education, about 1,500 students with disabilities were benefiting from the government’s free tertiary education support.
He said the package covered accommodation, academic-related expenses and other forms of support.
He further announced that amendments to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) law had also enabled the allocation of resources to support pre-tertiary education for persons with disabilities.
Mr Homadzi said a committee involving disability groups and government representatives had developed a framework for the disbursement of the funds.
On employment, he said discussions were ongoing with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to operationalise a proposed five per cent employment quota for persons with disabilities in both public and private institutions.
In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to disability inclusion.
Enforcement
She said the revised disability bill would strengthen enforcement mechanisms and protections for persons with disabilities.
Dr Lartey, therefore, called for the bridging of the gap between policy commitments and lived realities, adding that “It challenges us to ensure that rights are not only written into law but enforced in practice.”
The Gender Minister said disability inclusion was not an act of charity but a matter of justice and a constitutional obligation.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Maxwell Kwame Lukutor, on behalf of the Parliamentary Caucus on Persons with Disabilities, assured members of GFD of Parliament’s readiness to prioritise the revised bill when it gets to Parliament.
