Mr Yatma Fall, President of the West Africa Federation of Persons with Disabilities, has called on governments within the West African sub region to prioritise accessibility issues that persons with disabilities face.
He said disability becomes a challenge when there is no accessibility and “we cannot develop our region without including the needs of persons with disabilities.”
Mr Fall said there are about 60 million persons with disabilities living in West Africa and governments cannot afford to leave them behind in the development agenda.
He was speaking at the opening of a training programme for members of the West Africa Federation of Persons with Disabilities (WAFOD) on accessibility issues.
The WAFOD is made up of 16 federations of persons with disabilities from 16 countries including Ghana, Cote’D’ Ivoire, Senegal, Togo, South Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea Conakry, Niger, among others.
Mr Fall said governments should be intentional about making policies, programmes and systems that facilitate the inclusion of person with disabilities, especially around accessibility.
“We cannot afford to leave behind 60 million persons with disabilities in West Africa,” he reiterated.
Ms Esther Ekua Gyamfi, Executive Secretary of the National Council on Persons with Disabilities who represented the Government said Ghana had taken steps to ensure the accessibility of persons with disabilities.
She said there are various programmes and policies being implemented to ensure that persons with disabilities in Ghana are not limited by accessibility and pledged government’s continuous support towards facilitating accessibility.
