A new campaign to raise  awareness on  the need for buildings  and facilities to be made accessible and available to  people living with disability has been launched, marking another step into ensuring the rights of people living with disability are protected and promoted.

The minister of Gender, Children and social protection, Nana Oye Lithur, on Monday launched the "National Campaign on Disability Friendly Places" to practicalize the  Disabilty act 2006(ACT 715),which was passed exactly ten years ago to ensure the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disability.

The campaign is set to raise awareness  and educate the public on all disability issues  to   ensure the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedom of persons with disability to conform to the  disability act 2006(ACT 715), as  the 10 years moratorium given by parliament is due on Thursday.

The event which saw the presence of some traditional leaders-chiefs and queen mothers, hundreds of people with disability, Minsters  of States and Parliamentarians, was organized under a high note of commitment to help reduce the stigma attached to people with disability and to enhance proper measures into bringing them to realise their full potentials.

In her keynote address, the Minister reiterated the government's commitment to create an enabling environment for persons living with disability and how it seeks to ensure they are given the needed attention

"we are working with the National Council on Persons with Disability to ensure that issues of persons with disability are integrated in every aspect of our social protection mandate as ministry." the statement read.

"His Excellency John Dramani Mahama showed his commitment and appointed Hon (Dr) Henry Seidu Daanaa as minister of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs ."

In June this year the ministry also supported the candidacy of Mrs Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame for the nine-member UN committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the conference of State(s) Parties to Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilty(CPRD) at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Most public buildings and facilities are built in a  way that makes it daunting for people with disability to access and after the 10 year moratorium, most buildings still looks hostile to people with disability.

However, the National Council On Persons with disability is working with the Ghana Standard Authority and The Disabilty People Organisations(DPO) to the develop the Ghana Standards on Accessibility Designs to provide the specifications on how buildings, roads, recreational Centres should to be designed to facilitate smooth accessibility by persons living with disability.

Speaking to  ghanaguardian.com after the launch, Nana Oye Lithur explains the ministry, for now, would want to work with owners of buildings to create a very cordials relationship to bring forth the set target of the campaign

"we want to work with them, they may also have challenges on how facilities must be designed so as to make it accessible to these disabled people"

"We will have to work with them over a period of time, if they refuse or fail then we kick in other actions."

oye-

                                            Dismantled assertion

Some traditional believes over the years have posed a great threats to people with disability. In some societies, they are seen as societal misfits as they were not allowed to hold any positions in society, not even the shaking of hands with chiefs, but the presence of some traditional leaders at Monday's campaign launch seems to dismantle that assertion.

"I don't think people living with disability  are cursed, the only thing I think we can do as  is to come together as leaders of our communities to do more to avert that perception. The Queen mother of koteiman, Naa koteikoo Afrasomanso tells ghanaguardian.com

"With this launch, we will have to carry on the message into our communities to ensure whatever facilities we put up will have them in mind to ensure we develop structures that are disability friendly."

Activities in the national Campaign for Disabilty Friendly Public Places will involve ,National Media Campaign to engage the TV and Radio, development of public outreach materials(T shirts and Cups, Banners), Social media campaigns(Facebook, twitter, Instagram), Creation of TV adverts on disability issues with focus on creating disability friendly facilities, Recognition of facilities that are disability friendly.

By  Fiifi Malik