By Victoria Agyemang
Saltpond (C/R), Nov 24, GNA – Women in Need (WIN), a local non-governmental organisation focused on supporting women and girls, has called on metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to disburse the three per cent common fund for Persons with Disability on time.
It said Persons With Disability (PWDs), particularly women and girls, solely depended on the fund as start-up capital, thus delaying its release negatively affected their activities.
Mrs Abigail Addo-Quaye, the Project Officer of WIN, was speaking on behalf of Ms Susie Ama Korakoma Arkuh, the Executive Director, when a team from the organisation engaged the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly on how best PWDs could be supported in the area.
She appealed to the MMDAs to continually support PWDs to help them to set up or grow their businesses due to their vulnerability and, therefore, needed to be protected and supported.
She expressed gratitude to the assemblies for their continuous support throughout the implementation of their ‘Promoting Equal Rights for Women and Girls with Disabilities (PERD)’ Project.
Mr Ato Rockson, the Head of Domestic Department at the Assembly, on behalf of the Municipal Chief Executive, said though disbursing the funds was not a challenge, the timely release of the Assemblies Common Fund had been the problem.
He said the Assembly was committed to ensuring the safety and growth of persons living with disability in the area.
Mr Rockson urged NGOs working with PWDs to educate them on how to manage the funds well to enable others to benefit.
“This is because some PWDs misuse the funds and donations, normally with the perception that they would be getting more every time and this had discouraged philanthropists and other benevolent organisations to continue to support them,” he said.
As part of the visit, WIN donated some assistive devices to some women living with disability in the area.
GNA