African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters Re-Inaugurated in Accra, Endowment Fund Launched

Accra, Ghana – September 17, 2026: The African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters has been formally re-inaugurated in Accra with a renewed commitment to advancing the right to quality healthcare, protecting human dignity, and strengthening advocacy for vulnerable and marginalized people across Ghana and Africa.

The re-inauguration, held at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, also saw the official launch of an Endowment Fund intended to provide sustainable financing for the Commission’s programmes and activities.

The ceremony was addressed by the Founder of the African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters, Naa Professor Edmund Nminyem Delle, and featured a keynote address by the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Kingsford Bagbin, who formally declared the Commission duly inaugurated and officially launched the Endowment Fund.

From HIV/AIDS advocacy to a renewed continental mandate

In his opening address, Prof. Delle recalled the origins of the Commission and its early interventions in defending the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable groups.

He said the organisation emerged from a decision taken in Congo-Brazzaville in 1989 to advocate for the rights of people suffering from discrimination and health-related challenges, particularly during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis.

According to Prof. Delle, the Commission subsequently operated in Anglophone Africa, with Ghana becoming an important centre for its activities.

He recounted how the organisation provided shelter and support to people fleeing persecution and torture, including journalists and others who had been forced to leave their countries.

Prof. Delle said his personal property was at one point made available to accommodate people seeking refuge, with the facility eventually hosting hundreds of people from Sierra Leone, The Gambia and other parts of the world.

He also recalled partnerships that helped provide medical treatment and facilitate the relocation or return of some beneficiaries to countries including the United States, Canada, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.

However, he said the Commission’s activities subsequently slowed due to financial constraints.

A new centre for health, human rights, and research

Prof. Delle said the decision to revive the Commission was driven by the need to create a stronger institutional platform for research, advocacy, and support for people whose health and human rights are compromised by poverty, discrimination, and inadequate access to healthcare.

“We want to make the centre to study what we mean by human rights, what we mean by health, and what we mean by advocacy,” he said.

He stressed that every person, irrespective of their social or economic circumstances, should be treated with dignity and have access to appropriate healthcare.

Prof. Delle further called for stronger attention to the conditions of prisoners and other vulnerable populations, recalling cases he encountered during his earlier work in Ghana’s prisons.

He said the renewed Commission would seek to contribute to building a centre for health and human rights, anchored in research, advocacy, and public education.

Commission outlines three strategic pillars

The Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Bishop Louis Christian Godson, outlined three core pillars that will guide the organisation’s renewed operations.

These are advocacy and education; accountability and redress; and policy integration.

He said the Commission would intensify public education on patients’ rights and engage communities and healthcare providers on the need to treat healthcare as a fundamental human right.

Under its accountability and redress pillar, the Commission intends to provide platforms through which citizens can report violations, monitor alleged negligence in health facilities, and raise concerns about environmental pollution.

Bishop Godson also said the organisation would work with Parliament, ministries of health, and relevant agencies across Ghana and other African countries to promote the integration of human rights principles into health policies.

He identified issues including mental health financing, access to healthcare, environmental health protection, and the expansion of health insurance as areas requiring sustained advocacy.

Galamsey and environmental health

The CEO placed environmental degradation at the centre of the Commission’s renewed human rights agenda, warning that illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, has serious implications for public health.

He argued that the contamination of water bodies and degradation of communities should be treated not only as environmental concerns but also as matters affecting the fundamental rights and well-being of citizens.

“The ongoing crisis of illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, has escalated into a full-blown public health crisis,” Bishop Godson said.

He cited concerns about heavy-metal contamination and rising turbidity levels in some rivers, while stressing the need for scientific research and monitoring to better understand the effects of environmental degradation on human health.

The Commission, he said, intends to strengthen research and evidence-based advocacy on the relationship between environmental conditions and public health.

Bagbin: Health and human rights must remain national priorities

Delivering the keynote address, Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Alban Kingsford Bagbin described the re-inauguration as a historic occasion and reaffirmed the importance of the Commission’s mandate.

He said Parliament has a responsibility to enact laws that protect the rights and liberties of citizens, while institutions such as the African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters can help bridge the gap between legislation, public policy, and the everyday experiences of ordinary people.

Mr. Bagbin emphasised the importance of ensuring that vulnerable and marginalized groups have access to quality healthcare.

He cited areas including mental healthcare financing, expansion of the National Health Insurance Scheme and protection of marginalized groups from discrimination as issues requiring continued attention.

According to him, laws alone cannot address all societal challenges and must be complemented by institutions with the vision and commitment to translate policies into meaningful outcomes.

“We need commissions like the African Commission on Health and Human Rights… to act as a watchdog, as advocates, and as a bridge between policy, legislative instruments that we pass in Parliament, and the everyday critical realities of ordinary Ghanaians and Africans,” he said.

Call for sustainable financing

A major feature of the event was the launch of the Commission’s Endowment Fund.

Bishop Godson said the Commission’s vision includes raising US$10 billion within five years as a long-term financial backbone to support its activities.

He argued that sustainable funding would be critical to enabling the organisation to conduct research, provide legal support, undertake environmental testing, and maintain its independence.

“Advocacy requires research. Justice requires legal aid. Environmental testing… requires state-of-the-art monitoring equipment and facilities. True impact requires absolute independence,” he said.

He appealed to corporate organisations, international partners, and other stakeholders to contribute to the fund.

The Speaker similarly stressed the importance of sustainable financing, warning that institutions cannot effectively fulfil their mandates if they depend entirely on irregular budgetary allocations, short-term donor support, or temporary contributions.

Using healthcare financing as an example, Mr. Bagbin highlighted the financial burden faced by patients requiring regular dialysis and said dedicated funding mechanisms could help improve access to essential services.

Speaker donates GH¢100,000 to Endowment Fund

At the close of his keynote address, the Speaker formally declared the African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters inaugurated and officially launched its Endowment Fund.

He also announced a personal contribution of GH¢100,000 to the Fund.

“I want to take this opportunity to declare the African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters as duly inaugurated,” Mr. Bagbin said before officially launching the Endowment Fund.

“With this, personally, I will donate 100,000.”

A renewed call to put dignity at the centre

The ceremony concluded with a call for the Commission’s renewed mandate to translate into practical interventions capable of improving the lives of vulnerable people.

The Speaker urged the newly appointed leadership and board members to remain objective, evidence-driven, and accessible to rural communities, the urban poor, and marginalized groups.

He said the ultimate measure of the Commission’s success should not be the scale or visibility of its inauguration but the number of people who ultimately experience justice, healing, and dignity through its interventions.

He urged stakeholders to work towards a future in which no Ghanaian or African is forced to regard quality healthcare as a luxury beyond their reach.

“Quality health care must be a daily lived reality here in Ghana and Africa today,” he said.

The re-inauguration therefore marks a renewed chapter for the African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters, with its leadership positioning the organisation to combine health advocacy, human rights protection, environmental accountability, research, and policy engagement in pursuit of greater dignity and well-being for vulnerable populations across the continent.

Source:Joseph Kobla Wemakor