The Western Regional Branch of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisation (GFD), has urged government and relevant stakeholders to take steps in empowering them to contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It said the authorities must be deliberate about their needs and put in place appropriate strategies to support them to work and help the country to realise the goals.
Mr James Osei, a Former President of the Western Regional Ghana Blind Union (GBU), said this when the Federation marked the 2023 International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), at Sekondi.
It was on the theme: “United in action to rescue and achieve the SDGs for, with and by Persons with Disabilities”.
Mr Osei said PWDs must be seen as people with unique ideas and capabilities to make positive decisions and impacts in society.
He said, “We also have the talents and brains to bring change in our society, so those in authority must be conscious of helping us to achieve the SDGs”.
“For us, what we need is empathy and not sympathy because we also matter and must not be left out in ensuring that our society becomes a better place for us all”.
Mr Kwame Malcom, a Media Practitioner, said the state should always prioritise PWDs in formulating its policy interventions to help promote a more inclusive society where such people would take advantage of opportunities to live dignified lives.
He appealed to media practitioners to use their platforms to advocate the rights and welfare of PWDs so they could have improved living conditions.
Mr Richard Asare, the Western Regional GFD President, urged members of the Federation to be united and fight a common course of ensuring that authorities addressed their numerous concerns for the good of all.
International Day of PWDs is a day designated by the United Nations (UN) annually to promote the rights and well-being of PWDs at every level of society and development.
Source: GNA
