Disability in Ghana

Impact

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to healthcare among people with disabilities: evidence from six low- and middle-income countries. “Key barriers to accessing healthcare during the pandemic included changes in availability of services due to systems restructuring, difficulty affording care due to the economic impacts of the pandemic, fear of contracting coronavirus, and a lack of human support to enable care-seeking.” (2023, International Journal for Equity in Health)

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Photojournalist Inspires Deaf Students to Explore Visual Storytelling (Video Feature, Mar, VoA)

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Overview

Energy poverty and functional disability nexus: (2023, Energy for Sustainable Development)

PWDs Threaten To Demonstrate Over High Cost of Living. “Cost of food and transport fares, in particular, have gone up automatically and that has brought untold hardship on PWDs across the country. Our members spend more on transport because of the peculiar nature of our problem”. (2022, DailyGuide Network)

Emotional ‘journey’ of street beggars with vision impairment. (2022, Disability and Society)

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Social Protection

The experience of persons with disabilities as beneficiaries of Ghana’s District Assemblies Common Fund:

“Notwithstanding a number of the access challenges and some disappointing experiences of beneficiaries, they all acknowledged that the programme helped to promote their inclusion into their community and family life, enhanced their dignity and feeling of being valued in the household and community at large. The Fund has assisted beneficiaries to establish small-scale businesses, acquire skills and education, access critical health services, assistive devices among others.” (Apr, Plos One)

‘Enhanced accessibility’ as online application launched for pensioners, persons living with disabilities. (Feb, News Room)

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‘They are one of us’: How disability training affects health workers' attitudes and actions towards disabled people in Ghana. (Jun, SSM - Qualitative Research in Health)

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The work we began on disability inclusion will continue: reflections on working with organizations of persons with disabilities. (2023, Sightsavers)

How inclusion ambassadors are reducing disability stigma and discrimination (2022, Sightsavers)

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Criminal justice in Ghana as experienced by people with disabilities: “we found that the criminal justice system was unfriendly toward persons with disabilities due to factors such as lack of funds, inaccessible physical environments, language and communication barriers, and negative attitudes toward persons with disabilities” (2022, Journal of Human Rights)

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The elite stigmatizes disability the most: “Ms Sophie Boakye Acheampong, President of the Little People Organisation of Ghana (LPOG) has called on Ghanaians especially the elite to train their children to respect difference in human beings.” (2023, Ghana News Express)

She's a U.N. disability advocate profile of Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame new chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (2023, NPR)

The story of Anaaba Agbango, the visually impaired farmer in Goka. (2022, Ghana Web)

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Invest More in Mental Health Services New Video Shows People Living Rich Lives with Community Support. (2023, Human Rights Watch)

A Path to Belonging for People with Psychosocial Disabilities in Ghana | Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch goes back to a “prayer camp” to find someone still shackled one year after their previous visit:

‘Pamela was just as I last saw her, only emaciated, her eyes enormous on her gaunt face. When I asked her about life at the camp, her face crumpled, and she started to cry. “They don’t allow us to go to church,” she said. “That pains me. I want to go to church.” I was astounded: this was a prayer camp after all. A staff member told her: “But look at you, Pamela. How can I allow you to go to church?”’ (2023, Human Rights Watch)

End Chaining for Mental Health Conditions “Ghana’s 2017 ban on shackling people with psychosocial disabilities – or mental health conditions – has not halted the practice, Human Rights Watch said today. The government has not adequately resourced the enforcement mechanisms to monitor compliance by faith-based centers where people are being held in chains and assist those currently being unlawfully detained.” (2023, Human Rights Watch)

Chaining People with Mental Health Conditions Persists Visits to prayer camps and healing centers see “people were chained or confined in small cages, in some cases for more than seven months.” (2022, Human Rights Watch)

A policy brief on addressing mental health needs of deaf people (2022, Ghana National Association of the Deaf)

Mental Health Quarters is a youtube channel on mental health advocacy. (2022)

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Overview

Ride-Hailing Services in Ghana Struggle to Meet Wheelchair Accessibility Needs. (2023, Tech Nova)

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Air Travel

Disability Advocates Appeal to Ghana Airport Company to investigate mistreatment of people with disabilities. (2022, Disability News Africa)

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Second-week update of 31st CRPD Committee Session. With reviews of Ghana, Belarus, Belgium, Denmark, Mauritius and Ukraine. (Aug, IDA)

Alternative Report on the Human Rights Situations of Women
with Albinism (Jul, Africa Albinism Network)

Disability-Inclusive Education and Employment: Understanding the Context (2023, Mastercard Foundation)

Situation Analysis of the rights of persons with disabilities. (2022, UNPRPD)

Learn How the Ghanaian Disability Rights Movement is Influencing National Policy. (2022, DRF)

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A town had banned deaf people from marrying each other one couple defied the decree for love. (2022, BBC News Africa)

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