Accra, March 11, GNA – Dr. Felix Addo-Yobo, Deputy Director, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Advisory Unit, says SDGs are a call and commitment for inclusive, equitable and resilient development.
However, COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and other emerging issues have eclipsed them.
“This will be a pipe drain if we do not adequately cater for and make room for everyone, including persons with disabilities. “We’re allowing everyone to be part of the process and enjoy the benefits,” he said.
Dr. Addo-Yobo, made this statement during the second disability inclusion summit on the theme: “Achieving a Sustainable Dignified Life for Persons with Disabilities: Stakeholder Roles and Contributions.”
He emphasized that SDAs were indeed a commitment to inclusive, equitable, and resilient development and that “This will be a pipe drain if we do not adequately cater for and make room for everyone, including persons with disabilities. Allowing everyone to be part of the process and enjoy the benefits.”
He added, “I, therefore, say that the recent development of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia conflict, and other emerging issues have taken the shine off the SDGs.”
He said the SDGs were perhaps more relevant now than the way they were crafted in 2015, because they bring out a blueprint of the current challenges we are facing and put the world on a sustainable pathway.
“So let us not give up on the principles of the SDGs but rather champion them for it is ourselves and it is the future of the world we want,” he added.
He also stated that the unit was committed to collaborating with the National Council on Persons with Disabilities and all stakeholders to take immediate steps toward realizing Ghana’s commitment to the 2022 national disability inclusion summit and the global disability summit.
He indicated that the 2022 Global Disability Summit Road Map for Ghana had been finalized and printed for distribution, with the hope that it would begin before the end of March 2023.
This, he added, will aid in the incorporation of Ghana’s commitment into the Action Plan of MDAs and MMDAs, providing the country with a good opportunity to accelerate progress toward meeting its commitments to the rights of persons with disabilities.
Mr. Mawuli Avutor, Deputy Director for Public Education at the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), stated that the country’s human rights institution was critical in realizing the inalienable rights of persons with disabilities in Ghana.
This is due to the fact that “achieving sustainable dignified lives for persons with disabilities contributes tremendously to the enjoyment of their fundamental human rights and freedoms,” he explained.
He noted that inclusiveness was critical in human rights discourse because it reaffirmed one of the cardinal principles of human rights, which is non-discrimination.
He emphasized that people with disabilities had the same rights as other people and should be treated and served equally in order to maximize their capabilities and skills and accelerate their integration into society.
He also stated that the CHRAJ was aggressively promoting and protecting the rights of people with disabilities through a variety of means, such as public education, complaint resolution, and systemic investigation.
He stated that after participating in the national action plan for the 2022 disability commitments, the commission increased its awareness raising and advocacy campaigns across the country in 2022.
He urged the public to support CHRAJ by filing periodic complaints about violations of the fundamental human rights of people with disabilities, saying, “We cannot start or initiate an investigation into any abuse of people with disabilities on our own.”
GNA