Persons With Disabilities (PWD) in the Bawku West District of the Upper East region joined the world last Thursday to celebrate International Disabilities Day with a float through the streets of Zebilla.
The day is marked to promote the rights, inclusion, participation and wellbeing of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development as well as increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities.
District Chief Executive Victoria Ayamba in a speech read on her behalf said the Bawku West Assembly executed a number of activities which has given economic empowerment and social justice to PWDs as well as
Madam Victoria Ayamba said the Assembly supported about 600 PWDs last year with various income generation ventures. Others received educational support, assistive devices, among others.
For the first and third quarters of 2019, the Assembly supported 73 students at various levels in their educational, 215 PWDs supported with various income generating activities while 70 others had fertilizer to improve their farming. Thirteen other PWDs received medical and assistive devices.
More physically challenged persons, she said, are being processed to receive support for the last quarter of the year.
She appealed to development partners in the district to champion the course of the PWDs in all sphere of life, stating “we can’t develop when a good number of us are left behind”.
Chairman of the PWDs in the Bawku West district, Mr Solomon Ayaaba thanked government for increasing their disability fund and for employing persons with disabilities into toll booths , NABCO and other institutions.
He however asked the government to always make provision for persons with disabilities in every sector in Ghana.
He revealed that some PWDs in the region could not be registered for Ghana Card by the National Identification authority.
According to him, no provisions were made for PWDs before rolling out the exercise.
Upper East Regional president of PWDs, David Ania, said 34 persons with disabilities in the region were recruited for the Nation Builders corps and four others for the Pwalugu toll boot.
He said he is working with the National Youth Employment Authority to attain a 10 per cent quota of employment for persons with disabilities across the districts in the region.
By 3news.com|Ghana