Pass Marrakesh Treaty - Blind Union

The Ghana Blind Union has urged parliament to pass legislative reforms aimed at championing the cause of visually impaired people in the country.

According to the Union, Parliament should, as a matter of urgency, revisit the Marrakesh Treaty, an agreement which emphasises the importance of copyright protection as an incentive and reward for literary and artistic creations.

The Volta regional President for the Union, Prince Akunnor, expressed worry over the undue delay in the approval of the treaty by parliament and called on government to create an equal field for persons with disabilities so that they would be given equal opportunities.

He told Class News: “The only intervention that I believe will help all of us is to change the public perception of people with disability or with people with visual impairment. Sometimes, people look at the disability but they don’t look at the capability.

“Once the person sets eyes on you, the very first thing they say is: ‘This person, what can he do?’ but I believe that shouldn’t be the case. You must put the person to test, look at the person and look at his capability instead of looking at the disability.

“So all I want to say is, the only intervention that can save us or that can make us participate fully in society is about changing the perception of individuals about people with visual impairment.

They shouldn’t have that belief that when somebody is disabled then it means the person cannot do anything. Once that perception changes, everything will be well with us.”