Sightsavers, an international development Non Governmental Organisation in collaboration with Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), has organised a career fair in Accra for persons with disabilities to encourage companies to employ them.
A statement issued to the Ghana News Agency on Friday said over 70 people attended the fair with 30 companies including PZ Cussions, Tullow
Oil, Blue Skies, Guinness Ghana Breweries, Bank of Ghana, Vodafone, UT Group, Barclays Bank and Montran.
The fair afforded persons with disabilities the opportunity to interview with many large companies and showcase their experiences and
capabilities.
Mr Hemen Shah, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank, Ghana and Area General Manager, Central and West Africa said, "Our
commitment to diversity and inclusion are simple - we want to get the best out of the broadcast spectrum of people in order to sustain strong business performance and competitive advantage.
"We believe that managing diversity through inclusion would enable us to understand and to serve all our stakeholders better. We have partnered with Sightsavers to organize this event in order to create new opportunities for and to change attitudes about the employment of people with disabilities"
Mr Ben Hoefnagels, Sightsavers Regional Director, West Africa Eastern Sector said "We need to change the negative attitudes towards people with disabilities and at the same time empower them and their organizations to
take up their rightful places in society".
The statement said the fair included demonstrations of accessible technology including computers and mobile phones to highlight to employers that cost-effective technology were available to make the workplace more
accessible to people with disabilities.
It further said the United Nation Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) encourages countries to recognize the right of persons with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others.
The Convention also includes the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in a labour market and a work
environment that are open inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities.
The statement said Ghana signed the UNCRPD Protocol on the 30th March, 2007 but the ratification is still pending.
It said Sightsavers in collaboration with other stakeholders would support disabled persons' organizations to advocate for its ratification.
The career fair, the first of its kind, would be hosted again in 2011 which will target a larger number of persons with disabilities.