Absence of disability-friendly public structures worrying - GFD

The Ghana Federation of the Disabled (GFD) on Monday raised concerns over complete absence of disability-friendly facilities on foot bridges on the newly constructed N1 Highway and other public structures and institutions.

It had therefore undertaken an advocacy action for the passage of the relevant Legislative Instrument (LI) to facilitate implementation of the Disability Act (Act 715) to address the needs of Persons with Disability (PWDs), which included issues bordering on disability-friendly public buildings.

Mr Paul Oduro, Executive Director of SMILE Ghana, a Management Consultant, which works closely with the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund to support the GFD, made this known to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

He said the absence of such disability-friendly facilities were a huge economic cost to the physically-challenged who would have to spend long periods to cross many of such roads and use public buildings to carry out their daily business and activities.

Mr Oduro expressed the hope that at the end of an upcoming advocacy workshop for GFD, members would be able to effectively and efficiently engage Parliamentarians and other stakeholders on the socio-economic importance of the LI.

He said accessibility to the physical-built environment remained one of the key challenges facing Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

“It is a source of denial of rights enjoyed by others and also contributes significantly towards unemployment, injustice, discrimination, low levels of literacy, exclusion and isolation,” he said.

Mr Oduro added that an inaccessible physical environment or space often contributed towards significant loss of dignity and independence to the PWDs.