Disability groups demand urgent passage of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2026
Organisations of Persons with Disabilities have urged government and Parliament to expedite passage of the Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2026, to safeguard rights and inclusion.
The call was made by the Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD) in partnership with other organisations representing Persons with Disabilities at a press conference in Accra.
Mrs Hannah Awadzi, Founder and Executive Director of Inclusive Family Alliance, who read a statement on behalf of the organisations, said the revised Bill offered a chance to correct injustices facing persons with disabilities despite existing laws.
She said the Bill provided stronger anti‑discrimination protections, enforceable accessibility standards for the built environment, transport and ICT, and introduced complaint and oversight mechanisms.
Speaking on the challenges of current laws, Mrs Awadzi said while Ghana passed the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2006 (Act 715), and later ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, implementation had lagged.
She said persons with disabilities still faced barriers in education, health, employment, transport and justice, citing inadequate learning materials in accessible formats, stigma in healthcare settings, high unemployment despite qualifications, and the absence of sign language interpretation in public services.
Mrs Awadzi pointed to specific failures under Act 715, stating that Section 60, which required all public buildings to be accessible by 2016, remained largely unfulfilled.
She also noted that requirements for designated inclusive schools, rehabilitation centres and accessible transport had not materialised, and that penalties under the current law were too weak to ensure compliance.
“The lived realities of persons with disabilities starkly contradict the promises made in 2006.
“Let us be unequivocal; the challenges identified above are not the result of any inability on the part of PWDs themselves. Rather, these barriers are the product of systems, institutions, and attitudes that have consistently failed to promote and ensure disability inclusion,” she said.
Mrs Awadzi therefore called for immediate Cabinet approval of the Bill and demanded that Parliament prioritise and pass it in the current session.
She also urged the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to champion the Bill and prepare the necessary Legislative Instrument for implementation.
Another key demand was the elevation of the National Council on Persons with Disabilities to a Commission to give it greater independence.
Mrs Awadzi appealed to civil society organisations, development partners, traditional authorities, the private sector and the media to support the campaign, stating that the organisations would not rest until the Bill was passed into law.
The statement was delivered on behalf of the GNAD, Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations, Inclusion Ghana, Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled, Ghana Blind Union, Inclusive Family Alliance, Mental Health Society of Ghana and other organisations nationwide.
Source: GNA