TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR DRAFTING THE HISTORY of the Disability MOVEMENT IN GHANA

Rationale and Objectives of the Assignment

The History of an organization is an effective tool for building a long-lasting culture and guiding leadership. GFD as an umbrella organization has grown in membership and has gone through several transitions from its inception to date.  Such transitional processes have informed the directional focus and strategy of the organization. It is very important to acknowledge and document some of these processes to help staff, members, and the general public to better understand the organization's past, including the journey, key decisions, events, leaders’ contributions, roles of stakeholders, etc. This will also enable employees new and old to appreciate the efforts and commitments of past disability activists and also bring their experiences to bear to push the advocacy agenda of including persons with disabilities in all facets of life. It is crucial to note that a thorough and accurate history is built upon thorough research including physical documents, oral histories, and photos/multimedia. GFD given this is looking for an experienced and dynamic consultant to develop the history of the disability movement in Ghana.

Scope of the Assignment.

The consultant is expected to create the Stage of the GFD History, and look at the events before 1987.

Based on pre-independence, the traditional notions or perceptions of disability, develop the history of the traditional story of disability and how the organisations were established. Specifically, the assignment is expected to incorporate the following:

1. Traditional notions of Disability-
2. Interventions of the missionaries and Charity Organisations in dealing of the issues of disability, the churches.
3. The rise of OPWDs around the 3 OPDs were formed (
4. Formation of the umbrella Organisation
   1. Conceptualization of the idea from the umbrella, and the relevance of its formation. For example, reflections on its inception to date - formation of Federation of the Disabled Organisation (FODA) to Ghana Federation of the Disabled journeying through to Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations.
   2. Objectives of the umbrella organisation
   3. Activism/Achievement/ Challenges
   4. Change of Name- Reasons and effects
5. Growth of the umbrella organisations (increase of Membership and decentralization to the local levels that is the regions and districts
6. Contributions and roles of partners and stakeholders
7. Legends of the Disability Movement- Individual activists and pioneers

Tasks and Scope of the Assignment

The tasks and scope of the consultancy will include the following:

• Identify key informants/respondents
• Conduct one-on-one interviews and focused group discussions with key informants
• Take pictures and videos where necessary
• Develop a draft history of the disability movement
• Validate draft document with GFD leadership and other stakeholders
• Finalize the document with inputs from the validation session.

Deliverables

• A draft history of disability movement to GFD for validation.
• A high-quality and comprehensive final brief of disability movement with GFD incorporated comments.
• Audio/video recordings for media publications

Minimum Requirements and Competences

• Qualification in Historical Research and Experience in Historical Writing
• Must have in-depth knowledge and understanding of issues
• Must have in-depth knowledge of various disability organisations
• Excellent communication skills including in presentations and report writing.
• Excellent spoken and written English.
• Good judgment, pays attention to nuance and detail, takes initiative, high sense of responsibility, tact, and discretion, with sensitivity to different cultures.