VOWACGhana (Voice of Women and Children with Disabilities in Ghana), held a stakeholder forum on September 9, 2025, to disseminate the recommendations of the UN Committee of Experts on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and to discuss engagements at the Conference of States Parties (COSP).
The forum focused on Ghana’s efforts to align its legislation and policies with the CRPD, acknowledging progress made while also highlighting critical areas needing further attention.
During the presentation, VOWACGhana acknowledged measures taken by Ghana, including key legislation and policies such as the Mental Health Act of 2012, the Exemption Act 2022, the Child and Family Welfare Policy 2014, the Social Protection Policy 2014, and the National Gender Policy Framework of 2015.
Institutional frameworks were also cited, including the National Accessibility Standard on the Built Environment and the Building Regulations 2022, Marrakesh Treaty, the Revised Inclusive Education Policy 2024, and the recognition of Ghanaian Sign Language interpretation as a profession with career progression.
However, VOWACGhana drew the attention of the Government and relevant stakeholders to several key areas of concern and future actions needed:
Constitutional and Legal Reform: The need to review and amend the Constitution and other relevant acts to align with the Convention’s language and principles, as these policies still use derogatory terms like “unsound mind,” “idiot,” and “lunatic” to refer to persons with disabilities.
Enactment of Disability Bill: The slow process to enact the Persons with Disability Bill 2024, which would domesticate the Convention.
Accessibility Challenges: Despite the existence of standards and regulations, the implementation of accessibility laws for the built environment remains a challenge. Public transportation and information are often not accessible to persons with disabilities.
Accessible Information: The need to ensure that public information is available in accessible formats like Braille, Easy Read, and sign language.
VOWACGhana issued the following recommendations:
– Implement measures in close consultation and with the active involvement of women and girls with disabilities, including those with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities and with albinism, to collect data in all sectors, including health, education, employment, political participation, access to justice, social protection, violence, migration, and internal displacement.
– Review the 2023 – 2032 National Gender Policy to ensure that it explicitly addresses women and girls with disabilities, including those with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities and those with albinism, and that it also prevents domestic violence and that it has mechanisms for women and girls with disabilities to file complaints, and that such complaints are followed up, including providing restorative justice for victims and sanctions for perpetrators.
– Establish a national mechanism to enable girls and boys with disabilities to express their views and receive support, so as to fully participate in decision-making concerning their lives, recalling the CRC-CRPD Joint Declaration on the Rights of Children with Disabilities (2022) and the Guidelines to De-institutionalisation including in Emergency Situations (2022).
The stakeholder forum served as an important platform to assess Ghana’s progress in fulfilling its obligations under the CRPD and to identify concrete steps for advancing the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities.
SOURCE: DisabilityNewsGH.com
I’m person with disabilities I have a dislocation of my left hip and left knee, I’m 56 years old date of birth 27 July 1969.i completed secondary school education, I’m a seamstress