Africa-Press – Ghana. The Abak Foundation Ghana, in collaboration with Sightsavers Ireland, has begun a comprehensive capacity-building programme for selected civil society organisations (CSOs) working across 20 districts in Ghana.
The initiative, titled: “Strengthening Civil Society Representation of Women with Disabilities in Ghana,” seeks to empower downstream organisations in the Ashanti, Greater Accra, Bono, and Bono East Regions.
Funded by the European Union (EU), the objective of the initiative is to promote disability inclusion, gender mainstreaming, climate change adaptation, and safeguarding in the operations of the CSOs.
Mr Philip Duah, the Executive Director of Abak Foundation, speaking at the training session in Kumasi, explained that the programme was designed to strengthen the capacity of CSOs to ensure their activities were inclusive and do not cause harm, especially to persons with disabilities.
“We want to equip our partner organisations to put on a disability lens in everything they do, whether in leadership, internal systems or advocacy so that persons with disabilities can fully participate in society on equal terms,” Mr Duah said.
He noted that the training goes beyond disability awareness to address the intersection of climate change and vulnerability.
According to him, persons with disabilities were often the most affected in times of disasters caused by climate change, hence the need for civil society to be more conscious about environmental protection and adaptation measures.
The training also introduced participating CSOs to gender mainstreaming strategies to ensure equal participation of women, particularly women with disabilities, in decision-making processes.
In addition, the organisations are being guided to develop safeguarding policies to protect communities and individuals from harm during project implementation.
As part of the programme, each organisation will develop and implement advocacy plans at the district level, working with local communities to promote inclusion, environmental protection, and accountability.
Mr Duah emphasised that strengthening the internal structures of CSOs, including governance systems and human resources was central to sustaining disability-inclusive development.
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