PWDs In Ahafo Region Welcomed New Edition Of Guidelines For Their Common Fund Disbursement/ Management
By thefourlens.com
Goaso, Nov. 28, 2022
Persons living with Disabilities (PWDs) in the Ahafo region have welcomed the new guidelines documents for the management and disbursements of the District Assembly Common Fund for the disables.
They applauded leadership of Ghana Federation of Disability Organization (GFD) and collaborating partners for the effort to improve the livelihoods of PWDs.
This was during a thorough sensitization on Friday at Goaso, the regional capital on the content of the revised edition of their common fund disbursement and management guidelines document.
The 2022 evidence-based review report of the District Assembly Common Fund was also disseminated for members of the
GFD as part of the capacity building and empowerment exercise by the Ghana Somubi Dwumadie.
It was to empower beneficiaries of the common fund to hold the district fund management accountable in terms of non adherence to the new guidelines documents in implementation processes, mismanagement of the PWDs’ common fund, delay in disbursement and political interference.
Speaking to thefourlens.com in an interview, Mrs. Vivian Sarpomaa Fiscian, the leadership and governance advisor at the Ghana Somubi Dwumadie noted a nationwide evidence-based report gathered indicates that most Ministers, District and Municipal Chief Executives, Coordinating Directors, District Directors, Social Welfare Officials and key staff of the Assemblies were not adhering to the content of the previous guidelines for the management of the disability common fund.
The ultimate goal of the fund is to reduce poverty and severe economic hardship among the PWDs, hence the nationwide sensitization by the Ghana Somubi Dwumadie for beneficiaries of the fund to be well informed about the new fund disbursement and management guidelines, she emphasized.
Mrs. Sarpomaa explained that the Ghana Somubi Dwumadie is a disabilities focus organization with funding support from the UK Aid, working mainly for PWDs including persons with mental health conditions.
She said beneficiaries in nine (9) regions have so far been given the capacity building and empowerment training on the new guidelines documents and hope to cover all the 16 regions of Ghana before the end of December 2022.
Earlier taking the PWDs through the revised edition of the document, Mr. Matthew Anor Kudom, the President of the Ghana Federation of Persons with Disabilities (GFPD) said the processes of achieving the new guidelines was a collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGRD), Office of the Head of Local Government Service, (OHLGS), partners and the service users themselves through the GFD with technical assistance from the Ghana Somubi Dwumadie through the funding support of UK Aid.
He added it was undertaken by the National Council on Persons with Disability (NCPD), the GFD and stated the collective efforts was to improving the socioeconomic lives of the PWDs and was optimistic the new guide would help get rid of ghost names in the registration list of PWDs.
He therefore pleaded with the Members of Parliament to fast-track approval of the new guidelines by the end of December this year for effective operations from January 2023.
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