A working group of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional political and economic union of 15 countries located in West Africa, urges stronger support for people with disabilities in a communique recently released during a regional coordination meeting.
The communique stressed that people with disabilities should be given the right to lead agencies and structures related to disabilities and represent their countries at ECOWAS meetings on disability inclusion, adding that ECOWAS should strengthen the capacity of disability inclusion experts in the subregion to widen their work horizons.
In the communique, the working group, consisting of all 15 member states of the subregional bloc, said it was critical for all member states to ratify the African Union’s Disability Protocol, a legal framework that guides member states of the African Union in the formulation of disability laws and policies to promote disability rights in their countries. “(ECOWAS) will continue to strive to ensure that all member states receive the necessary support to meet their obligations under the national and international legal frameworks,” said Baba Gana Wakil, ECOWAS resident representative to Ghana.
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