GFD leads campaign to promote employment opportunities for PWDs

The Ghana Federation of Disability organisations (GFD) are organizing a two -day career fair for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) under the theme, “Working together with PWDs to promote business and productivity.”

The Career Fair, which  will be held  in Accra  this week, is expected to bring together a total of 250 participants comprising employers, unemployed PWDs,GFD member organizations, Development Partners, the media  among other stakeholders.

The event seeks to put together potential employers and PWD job seekers to interact with each other and for employers to gain firsthand knowledge on the potentials of PWDs and how to effectively work with them.

The Fair will also serve as a window of opportunity for PWD job seekers to market themselves and to enhance their chances of securing employment or internship opportunities.

The move is part of numerous initiatives set out by the GFD and its partners to promote employment of PWDs in Ghana. The federation has come through with a number of initiatives to address the bottlenecks which have been noted to cause low employment among PWDs in the country, particularly in the formal sector. One of such initiatives is the Carrier fair which has created opportunities for some PWDs

Commenting on the upcoming Fair, The Executive Director of GFD, Rita Kyeremaa Kusi, indicated that the programme intends to provide a variety of employment related services to PWDs and their potential employers in Ghana.

Ms Kusi stressed the need for the Federation to increase its focus on the employment situation of PWDs as key activities to enable them actively participate in the job market.

She stated, “This will be a two day session. The first day will focus on building the capacities of PWDs in the areas of CV writing and job interview skills as well as coaching and preparing them to meet with the employers. The second day will be dedicated to the formal opening of the fair and interaction between Employers and persons with disabilities job seekers.”

She said some selected employers will mount interview desks to conduct mock interviews. That, according to her, is to give the PWD job seekers the opportunity to have a feel of how interviews are conducted and the general expectations of employers from job seekers.

The Executive Director explained that the organisation of the Fair has become necessary due mainly to the fact that on yearly basis, an appreciable number of PWDs graduate from the various

tertiary institutions with various qualifications. However, most of these graduates remain unemployed for various reasons including the limited knowledge of most employers and the public about the capacities and capabilities of PWDs.

She said it is to address this high unemployment rate among PWDs, that the GFD is leading a national campaign to promote employment opportunities for PWDs through sensitization on disability issues among employers, engagement with public and private sector institutions and enhancing the capacity of graduate PWDs for the job market.

She expressed the Federations appreciation to the partners of the Fair namely, Disabled People Organisation in Denmark, (DPOD), Private Enterprise Federation and Sightsavers.