ABSTRACT
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Ghana Disability Act were both developed to give Persons with Disabilities access to rights that they had been denied of for long. Yet twelve years after, PWDs are still being marginalized and do not enjoy the same benefits and opportunities as persons without disabilities. This research, therefore, focuses on examining the interventions in Ghana towards protecting the human rights of persons with physical disabilities. The conceptual framework used is the Human Rights Model of Disability and it recognizes that disability must not be taken as a legitimate ground for the denial or restriction of human rights. The study is purely a qualitative research and the purposive sampling method was used in selecting the target population. A semi- structured interview guide was used in collecting the data and the data were analyzed using thematic data analyses. Major findings from the study reveal that, interventions have been put in place to protect the rights of PWDs including: The 3% District Assemblies Common Fund; Environmental and Social Framework of the World Bank; the Ghana Accessibility Standard; the Employment Policy; early childhood screening to detect disability; and public education on disability. Some challenges to these interventions are, prevailing traditional beliefs in society, insufficient funding for projects, lack of a legislative instrument to aid enforcement of Act 715 and inaccessibility of public buildings. The way forward is for government to collaborate with international organizations, CSOs and PWDs themselves in protecting their rights, monitoring agencies in their roles and holding them accountable and finally encouraging a policy of inclusion and mainstreaming for PWDs.
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background to the Research Problem
The United Nations (UN) describes Human Rights as rights that are imputed to all human beings which they may enjoy without let or hindrance. These rights include the right to life and liberty, the right to work and education and many other rights. However, access to these rights are not to be influenced by the following parameters: Sex; language; nationality; race; ethnicity; or religion. Human rights are understood as rights which belong to any individual as a consequence of being human (Piechowiak, 1996). Everyone, by virtue of being alive, must be a beneficiary of certain basic and indisputable human rights which the state, indeed the whole world, must champion. No human being should suffer prejudicial treatment in the enjoyment of these rights irrespective of where they reside in the world. In other words, human rights should be enjoyed equally and universally (Adjei, 2013). Human Rights are important to all because they ensure that people’s fundamental needs are guaranteed and they also protect vulnerable groups from abuse.
Several policies and legal frameworks have been put in place by countries, non-governmental as well as governmental organizations (internationally) to ensure general well-being for all people. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) passed in 1948 and adopted by the General Assembly of the UN is an example of such a legal framework. Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) are common among vulnerable citizens in any country in the world. According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), disability is “a physical, mental, or sensory impairment, whether permanent or temporary, that limits the capacity to perform one or more essential activities in daily life, and which can be caused or aggravated by the economic and social environment” (UNCRPD,
2006, p. 4). The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) defines a person with a disability as “someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities” (Disabled World, 2009).
The presence of different barriers in society poses a challenge to PWDs in their bid to interact fully and effectively with others on an equal basis (UNCRPD, 2006). At one point in time, almost everyone may be exposed to, or experience a disability in one form or another. It is estimated that in the world today, over a billion people live with some form of impairment (WHO, 2011) causing people with disabilities to be often referred to as “the world’s largest minority”. Persons with disabilities have been perceived as pitiful and needy – who can be effectively supported only through charity – rather than as persons with inherent rights and dignity (Schulze, 2010). Disability responses have altered since the 1970s, driven mainly by the self-organization of individuals with disabilities and the increasing tendency to see disability as a human rights issue (Campbell & Oliver, 2013). In view of this, the UN, after decades of work to change attitudes as well as strategies to support persons with disabilities, came up with the UNCRPD and its Optional Protocol. Article 1 of the UNCRPD states: “the purpose of the present Convention is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity” (UNCRPD, 2006, p.4). This Convention is relevant as it is an instrument to ensure that individuals with disabilities are able to access the same freedoms and prospects as everyone else. The Convention challenges people all over the world to know disability as a human rights concern rather than seeing it as a medical problem or for reliance on aid.
Though the United Nations has increasingly placed disability as a concern under human rights, PWDs continue to suffer discrimination as well as marginalization in society. They are confronted with challenges in accessing social services like health, employment, education, transport systems, and encounter barriers to active participation in society (WHO, 2011). “They experience high rates of poverty and poor health, low educational achievements and few employment opportunities. They are often subject to violence and abuse and have little knowledge of their rights or how to access services to assist them. While disability movements and protective legislation have seen the position of disabled people improve towards the end of the 20th century, their socioeconomic and political status remains tenuous, if not critical, especially in parts of the global South” (Meekosha & Soldatic, 2011, p. 1383- 1397). Disability is not only an issue relating to health, but also a complicated phenomenon that reflects the interplay of a person’s characteristics and the society in which he or she is domiciled (WHO, 2011).
The World Bank (2019) estimates that a little over a billion of the people in the world encounter disability in one form or the other and that developing countries experience higher rates. In Africa today, for example, it is said that 60-80 million people live with disabilities. Even though PWDs make up 10 per cent of the total population of Africa, in the poorer regions it could be as high as 20 per cent. In most cases, Africans who live with disabilities are unable to attend school or have access to decent employment. Consequently, it becomes a matter of course that they will live in abject poverty (Disabled World, 2018). According to the Human Rights Watch (2012), twenty per cent of Ghanaians are said to live with some form of disability and that is five million plus people. These people are often not only seen as unproductive but also not capable of making any positive contribution to society because most of them are unemployed and have to rely on their family for upkeep. Rather, they are considered to be a burden on the economy, especially on the immediate family. This situation
perpetuates their poverty and this is likely to continue unless there is outside intervention (Ghana Federation of the Disabled, 2008). Again, persons living with disability equally experience marginalization, deprivation, and exclusion from engaging in social and political activities (Voice Ghana, 2014). On the international front, Ghana was the 119th country worldwide to give consent to the UNCRPD (Human Rights Watch, 2012). Ghana’s ratification of the UNCRPD showed that the country was committed to uphold the human rights of all its citizens without prejudice to PWDs.
According to Rioux and Carbett (2003), human rights have become a worldwide concern although most visible at the local level. Governments, all over the world, are increasingly viewing their citizens’ rights in ways that align with legislations on human rights at the global level and, internationally, human rights projects are starting to tackle disability within a framework of human rights.
Physical disabilities will be emphasized in this study because of the wide nature of disabilities that affect people. “A physical disability is a physical condition that affects a person’s mobility, physical capacity, stamina, or dexterity. This can include brain or spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, respiratory disorders, epilepsy, hearing and visual impairments and more” (Achieve Australia, 2019). There are also different causes of physical disabilities and they generally fall into one of two classifications: hereditary and acquired. The study focuses on this singular feature of disabilities since it will be impossible to examine all the interventions in Ghana towards protecting the human rights of PWDs in general.
Statement of the Problem
PWDs form the largest growing minority in the world. However, until the recent past they were unseen as far as international human rights law was concerned (Series, 2015). The
UNCRPD was created to address concerns expressed by current instruments on human rights which were “yet to create a significant impact on improving the lives of people with disabilities,” and a commitment by PWDs, as well as those who champion their cause to “strive for a legally binding international convention on the rights of all people with disabilities to full participation and equality in society” (Disabled Peoples International, 2000). Ghana passed the PWDs Act (ACT 715) in 2006 with the aim of providing them access to rights and assistance which they had gone without for too long. The Act was considered a noteworthy milestone in the country’s human rights discourse at a time when majority of countries in Africa did not have special legislation on disability and it allowed for PWDs to be included in mainstream society (Oduro, 2009). The Act covers key provisions such as rights, employment, health, education, transport and accessibility for PWDs.
However, twelve years after the UNCRPD and the Ghana Disability Act, PWDs and some human rights organizations are still voicing their frustrations about how PWDs have been marginalized and still do not enjoy the benefits and opportunities persons without disabilities enjoy. From September to December 2011, the predicament of PWDs in Ghana was brought into the limelight (Adjei, 2013). Persons with physical disabilities still have to be carried to access storey buildings in Ghana that are without an elevator or a ramp and some of these buildings are public buildings. It is also common for most homes in Ghana to be inaccessible to PWDs. PWDs do not have access at all or have very limited access to education because the educational institutions that cater to them are few. Visually impaired persons, for example, can only attend 7 out of over 475 senior high schools. There are inadequate social services for PWDs as well in terms of means of transportation, therapy and subsidizations. Hence, this study concentrates on tackling the problems related to the human rights of people living with physical disabilities in Ghana and the interventions that have been made to
counter these problems. This provides PWDs with knowledge and empowers them to claim and defend their rights both locally and globally.
