Akufo-Addo commends disability champions

President Nana Akufo-Addo, has applauded the hard work of world leaders, disability champions and care-givers helping to improve the well-being of persons with disabilities.

He said despite recent gains, their work was far from done.

“We still have a lot more to do to achieve equality and social justice for persons with disabilities,” President Akufo-Addo stated in his address at the 2022 Global Disability Forum.

The virtual Forum on the theme: “Promoting Equality: Lasting Change for Persons With Disabilities Through Joint Action,” is being hosted by the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and the Governments of Ghana and Norway.

The first Global Disability Summit, held in London in 2018, was a pacesetter, and succeeded in mobilising action and commitments to promote disability inclusive development and the rights of persons with disabilities.

President Akufo-Addo said the evidence was clear that much had been achieved since the 2018 Summit.

“Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed significant inequalities within nations. Persons with disabilities and other marginalised and vulnerable groups have, in many countries, been under-served in the provision of COVID-19 related health, social protection and financial services among others. This is not acceptable,” he said.

“We must, necessarily, be innovative and deliberate in our efforts to meet the diverse needs of the various population groups, including persons with disabilities.”

The President said marginalising persons with disabilities came at a great cost to economies and societies.

He noted that in 2009, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) cited the global annual GDP loss due to disability to be between 1.4 and 1.9 trillion US dollars.

“The economic cost, in today’s terms, will undeniably be several multiples of those figures.”

President Akufo-Addo said with some 82 per cent of persons with disabilities estimated to be living on less than a dollar a day, waged employment would undoubtedly help to break the cycle of poverty, bridge the inequality gap, and contribute to greater economic growth.

“But it cannot just be about economics. It has to be about inclusion, equality and social justice. And, above all, it must be about our humanity. We must let our humanity manifest in our compassion and support for persons with disabilities,” he said.

The President said embracing disability inclusion would enhance access to a new talent pool for national development, and increase consumer markets for businesses and industry.

He said persons with disabilities must be given ample opportunities to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from development interventions; adding that it made moral, ethical and economic sense to do so.

The President said as the world worked to achieve the important Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mantra of “Leaving No One Behind,” it had an obligation to reach those furtherest behind first; declaring that their needs must be prioritised and targeted.

He said they must also be given the opportunity to engage actively in the process of defining and finding solutions to their needs.

“If we fail to do so, our quest to achieve the SDGs risks being compromised.”

“We must tackle disability exclusion head-on, and do so with a sense of urgency as we use this Summit to renew, with vigour, our commitment to a more inclusive, just and prosperous world for current and future generations,” President Akufo-Addo said.