Report on NCPD workshop on mainstreaming disability issues in water, sanitation and hygiene services, April 19, 2010

Over the past five years Ghana has made considerable progress in putting in place the necessary policy frameworks and legislation to address the needs of people with disabilities in all aspects of life and development. Ghana passed a “Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715)” in august 2006, an act to provide equal opportunities for Ghanaians with disabilities across economic, social and political dimensions. Section 41 of the act provides for the establishment of the National Council on Persons with Disability (NCPD), and this was implemented in 2009. The mandate of the NCPD among others is to propose and evolve policies and strategies to enable persons with disability enter and participate in the mainstream of the national
development process. In line with this mandate, the NCPD is embarking on efforts to dialogue with stakeholders at the frontline of delivering public services such as water, sanitation, education and health on how to improve the disability friendliness of public services. This one-day workshop was outlined to meet stakeholders in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector to share experiences on the extent to which issues of disability have been mainstreamed in sector policies, strategies and implementation guidelines, and more importantly on how service providers are translating these polices and guidelines into practice after the passage of the Act 715. [authors abstract]