The Africa Disability Institute (ADI) has begun an initiative to promote inclusion of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the upcoming 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary elections in the Volta and Oti regions.
It is supported by STAR Ghana Foundation with funding from the UK Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO).
Dubbed #InclusiveElection4All project targets 10 districts – six in the Volta Regions comprising, Adaklu, Akatsi North, Central Tongu, Ho West and Agortime-Ziofe Districts, and Ketu South Municipality with four in the Oti Region, comprising Nkwanta North, Krachi West, Krachi Nchumuru Districts as well as Nkwanta South Municipality.
The initiative’s key target is persons with disabilities, particularly women and youth as well as those living in Zongo and deprived communities.
The purpose of the event was to introduce the seven-month project to PWD’s group, and discuss and document their development priorities to inform the development of the Petition to the target political parties, whic
h are the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Participants at the Regional Conference on PWDs Priorities Development in Ho have enumerated challenges encountered in the election value-chain at registration of names by the Electoral Commission and during voter exhibition as well as the actual voting day, which seemed to exclude or marginalize some of them from the exercises.
They mentioned inaccessibility to campaign venues or rally grounds by political parties as one of their challenges. They also complained of inaccessible election materials like brochures among others, especially for persons with virtual impairment and the blind or the deaf-blind. Another challenge highlighted is how Parliamentary Candidates are not including priority needs from PWDs in their Constituency Development Plans. Mr Charles Nyante, Operations Manager of ADI disclosed that the project would also focus on accountable governance post the elections, to enable PWDs to access quality public goods and ser
vices.
He also said a Temporal Situation Room will be operated during the election to monitor the accessibility of polling stations in the target constituencies.
The Volta and Oti Regional Offices of the Electoral Commission would also be engaged for the inclusion of more PWDs as Polling Assistants.
‘Roadmaps will be developed with the winning Parliamentary Candidates post the election, on the implementation of development priorities by PWDs in their respective Constituency Development Plans’, he added.
Mr. Alex Korsi Akpo, Ho Municipal President, Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) appealed to GFD Executives to avoid veering into partisan politics to escape name-calling and tagging, which has a high propensity to thwart their collective efforts as an organisation, in engaging politicians.
‘Political exposure can affect our good course if care is not taken,’ he added.
Participants call for the enforcement of seat reservations for PWDs on commercial vehicles, while all public buildings, mo
stly hospitals, hotels, marketplaces, banks, schools and public toilets among others are made accessible for their use.
On health, the participants wanted a one-time Health Insurance Premium for PWDs in accessing healthcare services, and the deployment of sign language interpreters to some hospitals to support patients with hearing impairment or the deaf for quality healthcare services.
ADI is a Disability Research and Policy Institute with the aim of becoming a robust disability research and policy reference point in Africa.
Source: Ghana News Agency