PWDs issues mainstreamed into social protection

Ghana has mainstreamed issues with Persons with Disability (PWDs) into the National Social Protection Strategy and Poverty Reduction Interventions to enable them to develop their full potentials and participate in the national development process.

These are being backed with policies, programmes and strategies to facilitate the implementation of provisions in the Ghana's Persons with Disability law and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability,

Mr Alexander John Ackon, a Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, stated at the Eight Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The three-day Conference on the theme: "Mainstreaming the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the post-2015 Development Agenda," is taking stock of past achievements and looking ahead at strategies for the future.

Ghana's delegation, led by Mr. Ackon, included Dr. E. Gyimah-Boadi, Chair of National Council for Persons with Disability (NCPD) and Mrs. Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame, a member of the NCPD.

Various measures taken by the Government to create the right environment for PWDs, he said, included the allocation of two per cent of the total national revenue under the District Assembly Common Fund to the most vulnerable among PWDs in the District, Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies.

The Deputy Minister also announced that the disbursement of $1.5 million in 2013 under the Ghana Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) to more than 23,814 PWDs to meet some of their basic needs.

He said the beneficiaries were also registered under the National Health Insurance Scheme to enable them to have free medical care.

The NCPD, he said, had developed a mechanism to independently monitor the disbursement of the funds.

The Council also collaborates with the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) to implement a pilot Disability Employment Project, including ICT training, to offer decent employment to PWDs.

To address the challenge of exclusion of PWDs, particularly, women and girls in education, Mr. Ackon said PWDs in basic schools enjoy the same free basic education, apart from the government providing other facilities at the public universities to ensure positive education experience.

Other measures include providing ramps and lifts on public institutions, reading materials in accessible format with the help of the Braille Translation Centre of the Ghana Blind Union.

"A registration of all PWDs in Ghana is being conducted by the NCPD to develop a credible data base to guide policy makers to design programmes, specifically tailored to address the needs of PWDs in Ghana," Mr Ackon disclosed.

Despite various interventions to protect and promote the welfare of PWDs, the Deputy Minister noted that certain negative perceptions and beliefs persisted against disability and PWDs in the cultural arena, which the government was doing all it could to change.

Opening the conference, the Deputy Secretary General, Jan Eliasson appealed to the States Parties to give priority to addressing the vulnerability of persons with disabilities.

He said these related, particularly, to women and girls, disadvantaged youth, and older persons, and added that the new vision for sustainable development should offer a framework for bold action.

"Even before the adoption of the new agenda, I encourage action by all Member States,” he said.

“Every country should make the right to inclusive education systems a reality for all students, including boys and girls with disabilities."

Mr Eliasson tasked the Conference to strengthen cooperation and partnerships adding that; "Empowering persons with disabilities and securing their rights will advance society as a whole.

“Let us turn this landmark Convention into a reality for persons with disabilities,” he said.

“We should recall that the quality of a society is ultimately determined by how it deals with and treats its most vulnerable citizens".

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly by resolution 61/106 on December 13, 2006.

It came into force on May 3, 2008 upon the 20th ratification.