Physically challenged attend workshop on BUSAC Fund

Intra-West Africa Communications Limited, on Thursday organised a day's stakeholders’ workshop on the Busac Fund Project for the physically challenged.

It was to highlight issues affecting the estimated 4.2 million physically challenged, which represents more than 20 per cent of Ghana's population.

The event served as a platform for advocacy intervention strategy through the use of appropriate tools and information to influence policies and actions authorities to achieve positive changes in the lives of the physically challenged.

The theme for the workshop was: "Enhancing Access to the Physical Environment for Persons with Physical Disabilities to increase Employment Opportunities".

Dr Dee Otibu-Asare, Chief Executive Officer of Intra- West Africa Communications Limited, said People With Disabilities (PWDs) were the most vulnerable of Ghana’s population, neglected, their voices not heard and most of them keep in complete isolation.

He noted that PWDs were highly excluded from many social, economic and development systems in Ghana and there was the need to provide them appropriate accessible physical infrastructures.

Dr Otibu-Asare said they were challenged by the lack of accessibility to most public and private infrastructures and physical environment and some PWDs who had employable skills did not gain employment because of the unfair employment practices, and employers did not have confidence in their ability to perform due to accessibility barriers.

He appealed to Government, stakeholders and the media to educate the general public to accommodate people with disability and to offer them employment in the public and private sectors.

Dr Otibu-Asare explained that the BUSAC Fund was a Business Sector Advocacy Challenge Fund, supporting the Ghanaian private sector, to advocate change to remove constraints to their businesses.

He said BUSAC was a project funded by the International donors (DANIDA, EU and USAID) as part of efforts to strengthen businesses through advocacy.

Dr Kwaku Frimpong, Chief Executive of Campaign Divide Clinic, denoted GHc2,000 to the Ghana Society of the Federation of Disabled, to support the project, and asked non-governmental organisations to work with Government to stop begging on the streets by PWDs.