Realising the right of persons with disabilities to work in Ghana: a realist evaluation of the Disability Common Fund through the vulnerability approach

International human rights law (particularly, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) places an obligation on States to protect, respect and fulfil the right of persons with disabilities to work. Broadly, this thesis seeks to identify an effective social intervention mechanism that Ghana can adopt to reduce poverty levels and improve the social image of persons with disabilities. More specifically, the study used the Realist Evaluation technique and drew on Martha Fineman’s vulnerability paradigm to evaluate Ghana’s most comprehensive cash transfer program for disabled people – the Disability Common Fund (DCF). The thesis, thus, answered the question – in the context of law and sociocultural circumstances, how effective has the DCF been at using access to dignified labour to minimise poverty among persons with disabilities and, thereby, raise their social image? In the end, the result of the evaluation gave a deeper insight into the broader question whether Ghana is ensuring the right of persons with disabilities to work. The study found that the DCF is, indeed, minimising poverty among persons with disabilities. It also found that that by minimising poverty, the DCF is helping to lift the social image of the persons who received support from it. Finally, the study also discloses not only how, but also for whom – between persons who live predominantly under the formal government system (the formal State) and persons who live predominantly under customary and kinship networks (the informal State) – the DCF is achieving such results. While the study found some weaknesses in the administration of the DCF, it also suggests that Ghana can, through the DCF, ensure the rights of persons with disabilities better under the sociocultural circumstance where kinship (or organic) networks are stronger.