COLLATED INPUTS FROM VULNERABLE GROUPS TOWARDS THE PREPARATION OF THE 2023 DISTRICT ANNUAL ACTION PLAN AND BUDGET
Region: Upper East District: Bongo
Total number of participants: 65 (Males: 25 Females: 40)
- Indicate specific vulnerable groups
| Vulnerable group | Number of participants |
| Women | 40 |
| People with disabilities (PWDs) | 60 |
| Youth groups | 20 |
| Elderly | 10 |
- Action Plan/Budget Proposals
Identify key issues of concern to the vulnerable groups and the inputs that should be made in the budget and Annual Action Plan. Kindly provide a justification for your input.
| No. | KEY ISSUE/PROBLEM | BUDGET INPUT/PROPOSAL | JUSTIFICATION |
| Eg. | Lack of storage facilities for smallholder farmers | Government should construct storage facilities. | Lack proper storage facilities leads to post harvest- losses and compels smallholder farmers to dispose of their produce at farm gate prices. |
| No access road to Disability Resource Centre | Access road the Disability Centre be constructed by the Assembly | Lack of access road to the Disability Resource Centre makes the place not motorable and this leads to low attendance of PWDs to meetings in the centre as PWDs find it difficult accessing commercial transport services to the place. | |
| Lack of water facility in Disability Resource Centre | Water facility should be provided by the Assembly | Lack of water facility in the Disability Resource Centre does not promote sanitation and hygiene in the centre as toilet facilities cannot be used and kept clean | |
| Limited access to disability-friendly water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities in the district | Government should construct disability-friendly WASH facilities | Limited access to disability-friendly WASH facilities in the district excludes and denies PWDs the right to equally benefit in the use such publicly available facilities | |
| Lack of electricity in the Disability Resource Centre | The centre should be connected to the national grid by the Assembly | Lack of electricity in the Disability Resource Centre negatively affects administrative work of the Centre as office equipment including computers, printers, photocopiers cannot be used | |
| Inadequate PWD’s share of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) | Government should consider increasing the PWDs’ share of DACF | Inadequate PWDs’ share of the DACF does not meet the increasing numbers and growing critical needs of PWDs to significantly improve their lives | |
| Delay in release of DACF | Government should release DACF timely | Delay in release of DACF does not address the needs of beneficiaries in good time which affects the well-being of PWDs | |
| Limited employment opportunities for PWDs | Government should prioritize the employment of PWDs | Limited employment opportunities for PWDs results in high unemployment among PWDs leading to increased poverty | |
| Limited access to productive resources such as poverty alleviation funds and subsidized agricultural inputs including fertilizer | Government should provide more PWDs, women, youth and the aged with poverty alleviation funds and subsidized agric inputs | PWDs, women and youth’s limited access to productive resources such as poverty alleviation funds and agricultural inputs including fertilizer leads to low productivity and increased poverty and hunger among them | |
| Sexual abuse of PWDs | Government should punish persons who sexually abuse | Sexual abuse of PWDs leading to unwanted pregnancies and child-births thereby compounding poverty among PWDs | |
| Increasing stigmatization and marginalization of PWDs in communities | Community sensitization against stigmatization and marginalization of PWDs be intensified by government | Increasing stigmatization and marginalization of PWDs leading to inhuman treatment, discrimination and exclusion | |
| Lack of Sign Language Interpreter in meetings | Sign language interpreter be provided to PWDs | Lack of Sign Language Interpreter results in low participation of the deaf in meetings with PWDs |
- Observations from the field:
Please document any observation(s) from the meeting with the disability group
- The disability group has sub-groups. These sub-groups are Mental Health Society of Ghana (MESOG), Ghana Blind Union (GBU), Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD), Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD) and Inclusive Ghana (IG)
- The GNAD feels excluded in participation in meetings without a sign language interpreter
- The entire disability group has not been getting the opportunity to participate in the planning and budgeting process in their numbers as this activity gave them and are therefore full of excitement that they been recognized as a group and given an opportunity to be consulted for their inputs
- Recommendations:
Please document any recommendations from the groups that were engaged for these inputs.
- The engagement meeting with the District Assembly for their inputs into the planning and budgeting process should be sustained and done every year
- Feedback should be given for them to know which inputs have been considered in the final Annual Action Plan and Budget
- Implementation of the Annual Action Plan should be monitored
- Community sensitization on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights be intensified by the Assembly and development partners
- Community sensitization against stigmatization and marginalization of PWDs be intensified by government and CSOs
