Stakeholders in the upcoming 2011 Africa Forum of
the Blind which would seek to deliberate on issues affecting people with visual impairments, on Wednesday held a meeting to discuss the way forward for the programme.
The stakeholders were the National Onchocerciasis Secretariat, University of Ghana, Volta River Authority, Ghana Education Service,
University College of Education, Winneba, and the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs.
The forum dubbed Access Africa and slated for the 3-8 July would bring together 500 delegates from 70 countries and would be hosted by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
Addressing the stakeholders Mrs. Gertrude Fefoame from Sightsavers Africa said the forum, which is tri-annual, would help create opportunity for leadership and programme development on service expansion and research
into issues of quality life for the Blind and the Partially Sighted (BPS) and Persons with Disability (PWDs) in general.
"It will also draw attention to new regional concerns and initiatives, thus offers the opportunity for brainstorming, follow-up actions and the promotion and formation of professional bodies and collaboration with stakeholders in the affairs of PWDs," she said.
She said the Africa Forum was instituted by the World Blind Union and was a recognized event of the Africa Union of the Blind, a body within the African Union.
Mrs Fefoame praised Ghana for being the first country to host the event in April 1996, which saw the participation of 75 delegates and expressed the hope that the one slated for 2011 would also be a success story.
Mr. Eric Yankah, Chairman of the Local Planning Committee, Africa Forum 2011, cited engaging stakeholders, getting resource support and dissemination of information on the forum as some of the challenges plaguing the impending forum.
According to him the forum would also be used to merge the Ghana Society of the Blind (GSB) and the Ghana Association of the Blind (GAB) into a new single body for better articulation on issues affecting the blind in
the country.
Mr Yankah appealed to the government to develop the political will to push all policies and programmes associated with blindness and blind people in the country and urged all stakeholders to support the programme with their time, money and funds.