Danaa excellence awards for the disabled on dec. 8

Emperor Gaza International Foundation (EGIF), in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), will be hosting the maiden Danaah Excellence Awards to acknowledge the efforts of persons who have worked for the betterment of the lives of Persons with Disability (PWD).

Named after Dr. Henry Seidu Danaa, Ghana’s Minister for Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, who is the first visually impaired to be called to the Bar in Ghana, the annual awards would take place this year on December 8 at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Accra with Dr. Danaa as Special Guest.

The ceremony, which was recently launched in Accra, would gather dignitaries, PWDs and other stakeholders who have excelled in their various fields of endeavor to celebrate excellence and encourage others to give off their best to unfortunate ones.

EGIF has contributed significantly to the disability sector, sponsoring some activities of the Ghana National Team, the Black Challenge, and recently organized the Fusion Games, a game that seeks to bring together able-bodied and PWDs together to compete on the same platform in sporting activities as a means of integrating PWDs into mainstream society.

According to Mr. Prince Charles Sackeyfio, President of EGIF, the awards seek among others to encourage society to appreciate the challenges PWDs face in their daily lives, in order to lend their hand of support to them.

Referring to the story of Dr. Danaa who made it to the top in spite of his disability, he is of the view that, when PWDs are given the right training and support, the incidence of begging on our streets would reduce drastically and PWDs would also contribute their quota to national development.

He regrets the devotion of few resources to activities of the disability fraternity, questioning the rationale behind giving more to the privileged when the under-privileged need more to break even in an unfair world.

The Foundation is seeking collaboration with the corporate world to implement projects and programmes that would transform PWDs and erase the wrong impression that the disabled are parasites on the rest of society.

Mr. Sackeyfio is calling for support to institutionalize the awards to serve as an encouragement to those already working for the disabled and change attitude towards PWDs.