More than 48 disabled persons in the Cape Coast Metropolis are being trained by the Cape Coast Business Advisory Centre (BAC) of the National Board for Small Scale Enterprises, on business management, to build the capacities of participants, to enable them to improve upon their businesses.
The one-month programme was organised by the Cape Coast BAC and the Department of Co-operatives with financial support from Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO).
Ms. Alison Walker, the Disability Development Advisor of the VSO, told Ghana News Agency in Cape Coast that the voluntary group had released 10,680 Ghana Cedis for the training, to enable the disabled to acquire skills to successful operate profit making enterprises to better their living conditions.
She said the executives and members of disabled groups: the Ghana Blind Union, Ghana Society for Physically Disabled, Services and Advocacy for People with Intellectual Disability and the Ghana National Association of the Deaf would benefit from the programme.
According to Ms. Walker, who is currently attached to the Cape Coast Metropolitan Social Welfare Office, the training programme would focus on group dynamics where members would be encouraged to partner with others to undertake income generating activities.
Other contents include records and book-keeping to expose participants among others to business transaction and record keeping, business and financial management, the culture of saving and the benefits of banking.
Ms. Walker said the training course was important because majority of the disabled in the Metropolis were poor and face obstacles in the area of securing and maintaining livelihoods.
She said it was necessary that their capacities were built for them to run their own businesses and petty trading activities with the required skills.
The Head of the Cape Coast BAC, Ms. Veronica Essien, indicated that Associations of the Disabled were working to develop a collective business venture for the benefit of all its members.
She said numerous assistances both in cash and tools from organizations, to some of the disabled persons have not helped improve their businesses hence the training programme to give them the needed skills to run their economic
ventures.
Ms. Essien asked the participants to avail themselves of the opportunity being offered them to secure livelihoods and take care of their families.