Breaking Barriers, Building Inclusion – Disability Inclusion Advocacy Event
Achieving Equity for Children with Disabilities
“The stigma is huge. It happens everywhere. At church, the community, school, everywhere,” said Rosalin Abigail, the Founder of Africa Dyslexia Organisation. Rosalin was speaking at a panel discussion on Tuesday 30th May when UNICEF in collaboration with the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations and the National Council for Persons with Disability convened a roundtable discussion with approximately 80 stakeholders for an in-depth discussion about providing a more equitable landscape for children with disabilities in Ghana.
The UNICEF initiative, moderated by television personalities Gary al-Smith and Portia Gabor brought together participants from diverse backgrounds and institutions including children with disabilities, academia, policymakers, experts in the field of disability advocacy, the private sector, and first-hand stakeholders. Twelve-year-old Afia Ayeyi Boakye-Yiadom, living with Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease) opened the event by telling her story to the audience and spoke of her courage and some of the challenges she faced. After this profound testimony, Eulette Ewart, Chief Advocacy and Communication addressed her opening remark wishing the audience to become more equipped, more informed with data and evidence, and ready to contribute to meaningful and positive sustainable impact for young boys and girls with disabilities.
The programme also included an unveiling of new data, evidence and recommendations produced by the Centre for Social Policy Studies with UNICEF support on Access to Essential Services and Funding for Children with Disabilities in Ghana. Talking about data evidence, Dr Kwadwo Opoku and Charles Dzradosi presented findings and recommendations of a study conducted by the Centre for Social Policy Studies (CSPS) with UNICEF support on Access to Essential Services and Funding for Children with Disabilities in Ghana. Their presentation highlighted the fact that ‘the most shocking and embarrassing difficulty faced by children with disabilities is the negative attitude of society and families towards them.”
‘Regardless of our recommendation if the people don’t understand, it will not get anywhere. Therefore, I recommend awareness, awareness to our public, our education system, our traditional leaders, and our churches. Awareness is the key to getting people to understand the situation and act for its improvement in society.’
Following official presentations, attendants of the programme shared their views about their progress. The audience included a range of stakeholders from government bodies to the private sector.
UNICEF also ran a two-week social media campaign on the topic of the situation for children with disabilities, which culminated in a Twitter Space hosted by Gary al-Smith and Portia Gabor. The social media campaign reached more than 125,000 people with over 380 people listening into the Twitter Space debate. UNICEF will continue to advocate for children with disabilities across its programmatic work and will continue its advocacy alongside key partners in Ghana.
