Disability Union worried about ‘discrimination’
The Ghana Disability Union has expressed grave concern about the continuous exclusion of persons with disability in the planning and execution of national projects and infrastructure.
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They said about 90 per cent of houses, public places, roads and other facilities were currently not accessible to people who were physically challenged.
The Advocacy Officer of the Ghana Federation of the Disabled, Mr Isaac Tuggun, made their concerns known at a news conference to announce the commemoration of this year’s International Disaster Reduction Day, which falls on October 13, 2013.
He asked that promises to make public and other facilities disability-friendly, and policies to promote the welfare of the physically challenged persons should be backed with actions, pointing out that the inaction“impedes the ability of people with disabilities.”
In his address, the National Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr Kofi Portuphy, said the slogan: “Nothing about us without us,” was used by the international disability movement to communicate the idea that no policy should be drawn up without the full and direct participation of persons with disability.
He promised that NADMO would incorporate comprehensive accessibility plans into humanitarian action policies, making sure that relief operations were fully accessible to all, including persons with disability.
In a statement read on his behalf, the Minister for the Interior, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, said disaster risk was increasing globally at an alarming rate, with more people and assets located in areas of high risk.
He added that economic losses from disasters were worsening and the risk of losing wealth to disasters was outstripping the rate at which the wealth was being created.
Mr Ahwoi said the situation called for a concerted effort to minimise the risk, as well as the impact when they occurred.
