The Glass Ceiling is Made of Concrete: VOWACGhana Decries the Systemic Exclusion of Women with Disabilities from Strategic Leadership

While the government can be lauded for achieving a historic appointment of 30% women – meeting the minimum threshold set by the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024, the advocacy and service delivery organisation, Voices of Women and Children with Disabilities in Ghana (VOWACGhana) is raising serious concerns over a glaring disparity.

For the 8.8% of the female population with disabilities,(GSS 2021) this milestone is seen as a hollow victory that masks a pattern of exclusion from the nation’s corridors of power.

VOWACGhana observes that while women without disabilities are breaking barriers, women with disabilities remain effectively barred from strategic positions of trust and responsibility.

The NCPD Regression: A Step Backward for Inclusion
Nowhere is this exclusion more visible than within the very institutions designed to coordinate disability matters.

VOWACGhana has expressed deep dissatisfaction over the removal of a woman with a disability as the Executive Secretary of the National Council on Persons with Disabilities (NCPD).

In a move widely seen as a setback for representation, she was replaced by a non-disabled male.

“Even in our own spaces, people without disabilities are given the opportunity over us,” VOWACGhana stated. “In this 21st century, Ghanaian leadership still does not believe in the abilities of women with disabilities. When the state agency meant to lead on disability rights is no longer headed by a woman or man with a disability, it signals that our perspectives are being intentionally sidelined in decision-making and leadership roles.”

The Gertrude Fefoame Standard: Proof of Global Competence
The state’s failure to appoint women with disabilities to high-level roles stands in direct contrast to their achievements on the global stage.

VOWACGhana points to Mrs. Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame, a distinguished international disability rights advocate recently honoured at the Ghana Women of Excellence Awards, as the gold standard of what the state is ignoring.

Mrs. Fefoame made history as the first African woman to chair the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

Her qualifications – including two Master’s degrees and leadership of the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) – demonstrate that women with disabilities possess the elite professional background and academic excellence required for national leadership.

VOWACGhana argues that if a visually impaired Ghanaian woman can lead a UN Committee and manage global advocacy for international organisations, there is no justification for the state’s failure to appoint qualified women with disabilities as Cabinet Ministers, Ambassadors, or CEOs of State-Owned Enterprises, board chairs.

Qualifications Over “Labour”: The Demand for Strategic Authority
VOWACGhana is calling for a shift in the conversation from mere “employment” to “leadership.” The organisation maintains that it is no longer enough for the state to offer women with disabilities roles as social workers, care givers, teachers, or labourers.

“We have a pool of women who are lawyers, academicians, administrators, and holders of advanced Master’s degrees,” VOWACGhana noted. “These women have the professional experience and academic background to serve as Chief Directors, Ambassadors, and Board Members. Yet, the current 30% milestone includes effectively zero representation from this qualified demographic at the strategic level.”

Evidence suggests that while women with disabilities are excelling as Executive Directors of NGOs, Country Representatives for international organisations, and leaders in few private sector, these successes remain confined to the few resilient non-governmental and private spaces.

VOWACGhana notes that the state is yet to translate this private-sector excellence into public-sector appointments of trust and responsibility.

The Call for an Inclusive Legislative Instrument (LI)
VOWACGhana further criticised the Affirmative Action Law itself as being too generic in its current form. The organisation calls on the government to ensure the drafting of an inclusive and equitable Legislative Instrument (LI) that ensures women in all their diversity, including women with disabilities, are not left behind in the achievement of the law’s stated purpose.

To address these disparities, VOWACGhana has presented a precise “Action” list for the government:

1. Strategic Appointments: Intentional placement of women with disabilities as CEOs, Directors, and High Commissioners.
2. Infrastructure Accessibility: Ensuring the 300 new buses being imported for public transport are disability-friendly, as physical accessibility remains a primary barrier to workplace participation.
3. Political Will: Direct engagement with women with disability-led organisations to identify and vet qualified candidates for high-level positions.
4. Political parties should implement affirmative measures to attract women with disabilities into leadership roles
5. Private sectors, including development partners, UN, diplomats should equally acid women with disabilities leadership opportunities.

Conclusion
Until the 30% milestone includes the 8.8% of the female population with disabilities in roles of strategic authority, Ghana’s Affirmative Action will remain an incomplete revolution.

For this year’s International Women’s Day theme “Give to Gain” to have meaning, the state must stop offering “assistance” and start offering “authority.”

SOURCE: DisabilityNewsGH.com