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).
