Journalists sensitized on Convention on Rights of Persons with disabilities

The Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD) has organized a sensitization workshop on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities for Journalists in Kumasi.

The Workshop, which was also attended by Human Rights organizations, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders, was to educate participants to focus on disability issues in Ghana as enshrined in the Convention.

The Convention was opened for signature by all countries and regional integrations at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on March 30, 2007.

Ghana has signed but yet to ratify it.
Briefing the participants on the Convention, Mr Joseph Adu-Boampong, National President of the GSPD said only 32 countries had so far ratified the Convention.

“Many countries have still not ratified the Convention. It included the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Australia and Canada. None of the UN Security Council has done so,” he said.

Mr. Adu-Boampong said it was in May last year that the Convention into force, stressing that the coming into force of the convention marked the important development in disabled people's pursuit of equality.

The National President said despite these worthy ventures, millions of disabled people worldwide still faced discrimination in education, employment, health-care, and decision-making.

This, he said, was principally because all the previous initiatives only came up with guidelines, which were voluntary and countries were not in any way bound to adhere to their provisions.

GNA