He said particular attention must be paid to the needs and rights of women and girls when it came to education, employment and social wellbeing.

Mr Bardoul was speaking in Accra at the official launch of a two-year EU-funded project, titled: “Strengthening Civil Society Representation of Women with Disabilities in Ghana.”

The project aims to build the capacity of civil society organisations to enable them to participate fully in development and public affairs in their areas of operation.

He said the EU Grant contract with Sightsavers, ABAK Foundation and Women with Disability Development and Advocacy Organisation (WODAO) was a good example of partnership with mutual benefit from each other’s knowledge and expertise.

The funding support for Sightsavers and the ABAK Foundation Ghana formed part of the EU’s financing for action in third-world countries.

Mr Bardoul expressed the commitment of the EU to promoting disability rights and inclusion, indicating that in 2021, the EU presented and adopted its new strategy for the rights of persons with disability for 2021-2030.

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The strategy’s objective was to ensure the full participation of persons with disability (PWDs) on an equal basis with others in the EU and beyond.

“The EU is committed to ensuring that persons with disability have the right to take part in all areas of life,” he added.

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He said through the call for proposal mechanism, the Union provided a helping hand to civil society organisations to implement their actions in areas relating to the promotion of democracy and sustainable development.

The EU had also adopted an action plan for human Right Democracy, 2020-2024 as well as the EU Gender Action Plan III 2021-2025.

Mr David Agyemang, the Senior Programme Manager, Sightsavers, Ghana Country Office, said Sightsavers was an international organisation committed to the promotion of the rights of persons with disability in Africa and Asia.

“We empower CSOs, especially organisations of PWDs to deliver positive change in their societies,” he added.

The Senior Programme Manager said Sightsavers would build the capacity of two national CSOs, ABAK and WODAO, and support them to cascade the capacity-building process to their 38 downstream CSOs.

He said the project would work with downstream local member groups and community-based organisations to help strengthen capacities in relation to gender equality and the rights of PWDs.

Mr Philip Duah, Executive Director, ABAK Foundation Ghana, noted that women with disability were the most marginalised in terms of seeking jobs, who had been hard hit by the reduction in public-sector hiring.

“The situation is even worse for young women with disabilities in rural areas. They do not only suffer in terms of restricted mobility, but they also face conservative social norms that further regulate their freedoms,” he added.

“This situation, coupled with stigma and discrimination, worsened their plight, leaving more women with disabilities excluded from participation in local governance and living up to their full potential.”

He expressed the hope that support from the EU through Sightsavers would be a step toward wider engagement for the promotion of rights and inclusion of people with disabilities, especially women and girls, in Ghana.