By Morkporkpor Anku, GNA
Accra, Sept. 14, GNA — The Mental Health Society of Ghana (MEHSOG) has called on policymakers and duty-bearers to deliberately include persons with disability in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of public policies and programmes.
Mr Humphrey Matey Kofie, the Executive Secretary of MEHSOG, said disability considerations should not be treated as an afterthought but incorporated from the initial stages of policy planning to ensure that the needs of vulnerable groups were adequately addressed.
Mr Kofie made the call at a capacity-building training, organised in collaboration with the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations and the Africa Disability Institute, with support from the European Union Delegation in Ghana.
The training brought together policy planning, monitoring and evaluation officers and other duty-bearers responsible for developing and implementing policies across institutions.
He said the training was designed to strengthen participants’ knowledge and skills to identify, target and include persons with disability in inclusive policies, programmes and services.
He said merely identifying persons with disability was insufficient unless they were deliberately targeted and actively included in policy development processes.
He emphasised the importance of incorporating disability concerns into institutional plans and budgets, saying their inclusion in plans would help ensure that resources were allocated to address their specific needs.
Mr Kofie called for stronger collaboration between policymakers, duty-bearers and organisations of persons with disability to promote inclusive development and ensure that their perspectives informed decision-making.
He said the training sought to improve the use of disability data to support evidence-based planning and decision-making, while equipping participants with practical skills to integrate disability inclusion into policies, programmes, plans and budgets.
He said participants were expected to leave the training with practical commitments to apply their knowledge and ensure that persons with disabilities were considered in future policy planning, including preparations for the 2027 budget.
Mr Alexander Bankole Williams, a Disability Right consultant, urged institutions to adopt a human rights-based approach in addressing the needs and rights of persons with disability.
He said the approach required equality, non-discrimination, participation and full inclusion, while ensuring that goods, services and public places were accessible to persons with disability.
Mr Williams said duty-bearers had a responsibility to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of persons with disability and make them active participants in decisions affecting them.
He contrasted the human rights model with charity and medical approaches, saying the former recognised persons with disability as people with rights, choices and agency, rather than recipients of pity or dependence.
The principle of “nothing about us without us” required policymakers to consult persons with disability on matters affecting them.
Mr Williams said institutions should review their policies, programmes and projects to identify unintended discrimination and apply accessibility and universal design principles to infrastructure, transportation, health facilities, communication platforms and other public services.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Morkporkpor Anku