Federation of Disability Organisations calls for fast-track of revised law

The Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFDO) has called on the government and Parliament to fast-track the enactment of a revised disability law. 

The federation said while the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection must work in collaboration with the National Council on Persons with Disabilities to take immediate action towards the passage of the revised Bill, it wanted Parliament not to hesitate in passing the bill once it was presented before it.

The Vice-President of the federation, Martha Coffie, who addressed a press conference in Accra yesterday, on behalf of the National President, Joseph Atsu Homadzi, said the revised Bill would modernise the country’s legal framework for Persons with Disability (PWDs), ensure clearer institutional responsibilities and improve access to education, employment, health care, transport and justice for PWDs.

She said it would also enhance accountability across all public and private institutions and accelerate national progress towards inclusive development.

Ms Coffie added that the revised legal framework for PWDs was necessary because there were about two million PWDs in the country, constituting about eight per cent of the population who continued to face systemic inequalities.

“With government’s renewed commitments at the global and national levels, now is the moment to translate words into action,” she stated.

Background

The federation said the Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715), passed nearly 20 years ago, no longer fully aligned with modern disability rights principles or with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which Ghana ratified in 2012.

For instance, she said, the delay in finalising the revised Act had led to persistent accessibility and participation barriers and weak compliance and enforcement of disability-related obligations.

She added that it had also led to gaps in inclusive education, employment, transport, justice, digital inclusion and inequitable access to mainstream social protection interventions.

These gaps,  Ms Coffie said,  held back Ghana’s progress towards inclusive development and threatened the country’s commitment under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The federation pointed out that its renewed call aligned with the government’s recent public commitments at the 2025 Global Disability Summit and at the national launch of the Free Tertiary Education initiative, where leaders pledged to break down barriers and expand access and equal opportunities for all Ghanaians, including PWDs.

“Despite these positive commitments, legislative action on the reviewed Act has been slow, leaving millions of Ghanaians with disabilities without an updated legal framework that reflects their rights, dignity and aspirations,” Ms Coffie stated.

Actions

The federation called on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to fast-track all remaining processes for Cabinet approval and  to urgently present the revised Bill to Parliament.

Furthermore, it said, the National Council on Persons with Disabilities must intensify regional and national stakeholder engagement, public awareness and technical coordination to support the finalisation of the Act and enhance institutional readiness for its implementation once passed.

Other speakers at the press conference were the Director of the Ghana Burns Survivors Foundation, Yaw Ofori Debrah, and the Director of the Ghana National Association of the Deaf, Juventus Duorinaah.

Source: graphic.com.gh