Voices of Women and Children with Disabilities in Ghana (VOWACGHANA), an NGO that champions the cause of women and children with disabilities in Ghana, has urged the media to make a deliberate effort to amplify the voices of women and children with disabilities in the country.
In addition to educating the public on the rights of persons with disabilities, the media is expected to include women with disabilities in their programme productions.
A field worker at VOWACGHANA, Madam Juliana Efia Mahmood, urges talk show producers to endeavour to include women with disabilities when constituting panels to discuss current affairs and other matters.
She believes that by so doing, they will not only be practising inclusion but also helping to project the abilities and intellect of persons with disabilities to the public.
She wants the media to depart from the current situation where opinions of persons with disabilities are mostly only sought on disability-related matters.
Madam Juliana Mahmood was speaking at a workshop for Journalists and women rights activists in the Mfantseman Municipality of the Central Region, held at Saltpond on August 23, 2023.
Recognising the power of the media in influencing public perceptions and opinions, VOWACGHANA held the workshop for programme producers and show hosts to enhance their capacity on issues of women and children with disabilities, and to support them in promoting inclusive media work, especially on women and children with disabilities.
They were taken through topics such as the difference between impairment and disability, legal instruments that promote the rights of persons with disabilities and inclusion, and special articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities about women and children with disabilities.
The others include appropriate and respectful language to use when reporting on disability-related issues, accessibility, participation in political and public life, participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sports, among many others.
The participants expressed appreciation to VOWACGHANA for the training and pledged to live up to expectations.
The media training under the theme “Amplifying the voices of women and children with disabilities”, is a year project, funded by Disability Rights Fund and USAID.
VOWACGhana is a non-profit organisation which advocates for the fullest realisation and enjoyment of the fundamental human rights and inclusion of women and children with disabilities and caregivers of children with disabilities in Ghana. It was established in 2020.
It seeks to achieve a Ghana without inequality, injustice, unfairness and the full enjoyment of the fundamental rights, oppotunities and empowered women and children with disabilities.
Its vision is to empower the voices of women and children with disabilities to advocate for their fullest inclusion and participation in all facets of life through empowerment, mentorship and service delivery.
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SOURCE: DisabilityNewsGH.com