By D.I. Laary
Koforidua (E/R), March 2, GNA – The National Council on Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) has developed and unveiled National Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Management Guidelines in line with the Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) Act.
The guidelines, which were unveiled at the recently ended second disability, inclusion summit in February, were developed in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), development partners, and organisations of and for people with disabilities to enhance existing humanitarian frameworks and climate change responses.
It is based on prioritising measures for long-term sustainability, protection, and safety of people with disabilities in vulnerable situations, as well as humanitarian response.
The guidelines also aim to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities before, during, and after disasters and emergencies, to help people understand their needs, capacities, and rights, and to strengthen disaster response organizations’ accountability.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Ms. Esther Akua Gyamfi, Executive Secretary, NCPD, said some of the stakeholders involved in developing the guidelines included various ministries, metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies, academia, organizations of/for persons with disabilities.
She emphasised the importance of the document, saying that while policies, mechanisms, and practices had been put in place to combat disaster risk and support vulnerable citizens, they had not included persons with disabilities, who are the most vulnerable.
As a result, the NCPD, in collaboration with various stakeholders, recently developed the National Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Management Guidelines to protect the rights of people with disabilities.
She said the COVID-19 pandemic, which swept through Ghana in March 2020, highlighted gaps in public policy that made it difficult to fully address the needs of people with disabilities during disasters.
She noted that policymakers saw it as even more critical that the country developed a comprehensive guide that integrated the needs of people with disabilities into disaster response operations.
She emphasised that “the National Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Management Guidelines do not establish new policies or regulations,” rather, “it supplements the existing framework for incorporating disability into disaster risk management.”
She stated that the guidelines put into action one of the commitments made by the government during the 2018 and 2022 Global Disability Summits to address the concerns of people with disabilities in humanitarian response.
The Guidelines emphasise the importance of including people with disabilities and their representative organizations in the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of disaster risk response policies.
It provides disaster response organizations with concise steps to guide their operations from the preparedness and mitigation phase to the response and recovery phases.
The guidelines further emphasise the unique needs of people with various types of disabilities, as well as the appropriate reasonable accommodation provisions that must be made.
Ms. Gyamfi indicated that the NCPD and NADMO would remain steadfast in their commitment to mobilizing efforts for the full implementation of the new National Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Management Guidelines to accelerate progress toward fulfilling the promotion and protection of the rights of PWD in Ghana.
The NCPD is Ghana’s state agency for disability issues and systemic inclusion of people with disabilities, with the primary mandate of proposing and developing policies and strategies to enable people with disabilities to participate fully in the national development process.
She expressed gratitude to the Governing Board of the Council and the tremendous cooperation and support from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection for the prompt response on disability issues.
“We are grateful to the Ghana Fire and Rescue Service, the National Ambulance Service, and the Ghana Police Service for their commitment to strengthening the shock-responsiveness framework targeting persons with disabilities,” he said.
“The tremendous support of the African Center for Energy Policy for disability inclusion in national development has produced these guidelines.”
GNA