The Executive Director of the Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation, Otiko Afisa Djaba is advocating the construction of disability-friendly buildings.
She emphasised that a moratorium in 2006, which expired in 2010, mandated all structures in Ghana to be accessible to people with disabilities.
Madam Djaba urged the Standard Board to uphold and ensure the enforcement of this moratorium.
“The government and the National Council for persons with disability which is under the Ministry of Gender must sit up,” she said on JoyNews’ AM Show.
“They have been sleeping about disability issues, they need to sit up and look sharp and ensure that what must be done for persons with disability must be done. This moratorium expired over 10 years ago and to date, even new buildings are not friendly with persons with disability. That is totally unacceptable.”
Otiko Djaba said the National Disability Act must align with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
She said during her tenure as Gender Minister, she forwarded the bill to the Cabinet and established a technical committee for its review.
Speaking on Tuesday, December 12, she expressed concern that despite being in the validation stage, the Bill is yet to reach Parliament.
Additionally, Ms. Djaba said she is committed to collaborating with individuals with disabilities rather than politicians, except when sought for advice, and expressed her disappointment regarding the bill’s delay in reaching parliament.
“The Ministry of Gender is the body that must push it. They need to sit up and sort it out and get it back to Cabinet and to parliament so that by 2024, this alignment of the UN convention and the disability Act would be put together so that Ghana that sign all these protocols would show that we are serious about disability” she added.
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