Assist Physically Disabled With Skills - Andrew Okaikoi

Monday February 08, 2010
By Anita Nyarko

The chairman of the National Council for Persons with Disability, Andrew Okaikoi, has appealed to government to assist the physically disabled with requisite skills to discourage them from begging for alms in the streets.

“The training would help equip them and also protect them from the streets which is likely to pose dangers to them,” he said at the launch of Phase Two of DANIDA project which seeks to foster effective and cordial working relationships among the disability movement in the country.

The project, run by the Ghana Federation of the Disabled (GFD) and support by DANIDA, also aims at strengthening the disability movement through advocacy and organizational development.

Five million dollars has been budgeted for the project expected to begin this month and end in December 2013. The money will be used mainly for advocacy work through sensitisation of the public to the rights of the disabled.

The project is on the title “Strengthen the disability movement in Ghana through advocacy and capacity building.”

Mr. Okaikoi said research by the council revealed that about 70 per cent of people with disability did not have formal education, adding that “even those who have university education do not get jobs due to the discrimination against them.”

He said government should ratify the disability convention to help access funds from other countries to assist the people with disabilities in the country.

Mr. Joseph Adu-Boampong, president of the GFD, called for cooperation and coordination amongst disability organisations with focus on information and communication.

The Commissioner, of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Emile Short, said the rights of disabled persons must be respected in a country.

He said CHRAJ would support the advocacy to protect the rights of all the people, adding “we must ensure that all citizens are given equal opportunities.”

Mr. Short advised the public to desist from discrimination against people with disability because it was against their right.

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