Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame

Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame (born 1957) is a Ghanaian gender and disability rights advocate and the first person with a disability to have received the Excellence Grand Medal Award in 2007 from President John Kufuor.^[1][2][3][4]

Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame, Ghanaian gender and disability rights advocate

Personal life

She was born in 1957, at Akropong-Akuapem in the Eastern Region of Ghana and by age 10, she had started experiencing problems with her sight.^[2][5] Her visual impairment was caused by retinal dystrophy, a genetic eye condition that leads to decreased vision over time.^[6] She has three children with her husband.^[1]

Career life

As at 2018, she had worked extensively for 28 years in both local and international front to better the lives of persons with disabilities. In 2018, she was appointed through election to the United Nations committee on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).^[1][7]