Advocate for people with disabilities (PWDs) and head of Assistive Unit at the University of Ghana Computing Systems (UGCS) Alexander Bankole William has called on the university’s management persons with disabilities in initiatives’ implementation to ensure inclusivity and safety for such persons.
Speaking in an interview on Campus Exclusive, he stated that management should enhance provision of accommodating environments for people with special needs.
“Management as well as all staff across board [must seek] to implement programs as well as systems that take into cognizance or into the needs of all manner of persons including those with disabilities. Anytime we are conducting any affair, anytime we are running any program, any project, we need to be aware that there are with disabilities and with disabilities on campus. So, they must be factored in whatever we do.”
Reiterating his previous calls for inclusion of PWDs in national legislations, Mr. Williams urged the various legislative bodies to implement policies meant to enhance the lives of persons living with disabilities within the country.
“When you look at the rights of persons with disabilities, for instance, it is exposed and specifically exposed under Article 29 of the 1992 constitution. And this has been boosted by Persons with Disabilities Act 2015 of 2006, and further enhanced by Ghana’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”
“These are all wonderful instruments that are supposed to see an improvement in the likelihood of persons with disabilities. But to date, you still have a nation in which persons with disabilities are struggling to get jobs. We still have a nation in which persons are really struggling to move from one point to the other.”
In Ghana, whilst many legislations such as the cited Article 29 of the 1992 constitution and the Persons with Disabilities Act of 2006 are implemented to prevent discrimination and create provision of basic needs for PWDs, this has yet to reflect with many such people constantly calling on government for help on their needs.
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Story by: JisLord Naaa Ablorh | univers.ug.edu.gh
