Mr Peter Anoma Kodie, Programmes Manager at the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) has called on the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, to organise a stakeholder’s engagement on the African Disability Protocol (ADP).
He said the ADP had been at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection for a long time and it was about time stakeholders gathered to push for its ratification.
The African Disability Protocol is the legal framework based on which member states of the African Union are expected to formulate disability laws and policies to promote disability rights in their countries.
The ADP is unique to the continent and takes African practices and concerns into consideration for the lives of people with disabilities improve.
Mr Anoma-Kodie made the call at a stakeholders’ meeting on the ADP organised by the Ghana Blind Union and the International Council for the Education of All Visually Impaired Persons (ICEVI).
He said it was important for the sector Ministry to fast-track the ratification of the ADP since Ghana was entering the political season and if not ratified, “we may have to start the process of ratification all over again.”
Mrs Grace Antwi Atsu, an official of Sightsavers, Ghana, said the ADP addresses and encompasses specific issues such as African customs, traditional beliefs, harmful practices and the role of the family, caregivers, and community.
She said at the last check on the process to ratification, they learnt that it was at the stage of preparing a cabinet memo and called on the government to speed up the process.
Dr Peter Obeng-Asamoa, Executive Director of the Ghana Blind Union added his voice to the call to speed up the process.
“The cabinet memo needs to be prepared so that the protocol can move to the next stage towards ratification,” he added.
