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Document to ensure disabled friendly facilities launched

A document which provides specifications on how buildings and public facilities should be designed to make them accessible to all, especially persons living with disability (PWDs), has been launched in Accra.

The document, dubbed: the Ghana Accessibility Standards (GAS), was facilitated by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and developed by the National Council on Persons with Disability, the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and the Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO). 

The standards are to serve as guidelines for institutions and individuals involved in the design, implementation, supervision and decision making on projects.

At the launch, the Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mrs Della Sowah, said Ghana had shown its commitment to protect the rights of all persons, including PWDs.

She said the passage of the Persons with Disability Act 2006 (Act 715) in 2006 and the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability both attested to the country’s commitment to promote and protect the rights of PWDs.

“Section 60 of the Persons with Disability Act 2006 (Act 715) requires owners or occupiers of public buildings to make them accessible to and available for use by all persons with disability,” she stated.

However, she noted that while the moratorium on that requirement was due on August 11, 2016, PWDs continued to face inequalities in society due to the lack of support and services.

It was in that regard, Mrs Sowah said, that the standards were developed to ensure that all public spaces and facilities were accessible to them as a way of empowering them.

Government efforts

She said the ministry was working to mainstream issues of PWDs into the national social protection strategy and the poverty reduction intervention to enhance their standards of living.

Aready, she said more than 3,800 PWDs had been registered onto the National Health Insurance Scheme and were also a key target of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme.

In collaboration with the DPO, Mrs Sowah said, draft guidelines on the usage of sign language, Braille and other accessible formats had been developed and the District Assemblies Common Fund for PWDs had also been increased from two to three per cent.

To ensure a strong legal and policy environment, in line with international standards, she said the Persons with Disability Act was being reviewed, while work was ongoing on the development of the Legislative Instrument (LI) on the act.

GSA

The Deputy Executive Director of the GSA, Mr Kofi Nagatey, said the standards were developed in line with the existing laws of the country on disability, including the Disability Act.

He noted that disability accessibility had been largely ignored due to the limited enforcement of disability laws, the lack of national accessibility standards and ignorance.

He said the document would, therefore, provide specifications for policy makers, implementers and other stakeholders to ensure quality and non-discrimination in access to public buildings.

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