General News
Uganda needs to strengthen its disability policies
KAKAIRE A. KIRUNDA
Uganda is at a crossroads with regard to disability policy and practice. This is the conclusion of a disability study earlier this year which provided a situational analysis of People With Disabilities (PWDs) in Uganda. The study was commissioned by the Department for International Development (DFID) Uganda Country Office.
โOn one hand, it has enacted progressive, forward-thinking disability legislation and has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of PWDs. However, the country faces significant challenges in implementing effective and efficient disability policies and services,โ the report reads.
According to the study authors Dr Raymond Lang and Mr Ambrose Murangira, the major critical impediment to this is the implementation gap, โcharacterised by a lack of appreciation of accountable and transparent governance structures, the lack of coordination between line ministries on cross-cutting issues, combined with the paucity of robust statistics in relation to disability.โ
The study also found that there is a lack of strong statistical data on disability issues, particularly at district level and below. Likewise, no coordination between different line ministries on cross-cutting issues such as disability was found.
Similarly, the study concluded that the disability movement lacks sufficient organisational capacity to effectively lobby the government; just as there is hardly any collaboration between the disability movement and the MPs with disabilities. The study nonetheless points out some opportunities that could salvage the situation. The authors noted that the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of PWDs provides that the government with a unique opportunity to take forward a rights-based agenda to disability issues.
They also concluded that Uganda could take advantage because bilateral and multilateral donor agencies are becoming increasingly aware of the systemic entrenched social inclusion, marginalsation and discrimination encountered by people with disabilities.
Furthermore, โbilateral and multilateral donor agencies are giving priority to assisting the government in its quest to reform the public sector and to provide substantial assistance in rebuilding the social, political and environmental infrastructure in the Northern Region of Uganda.โ This, they argued, has the prospective to significantly improve the lives and livelihoods of people with disabilities.
However, the study warns that without increased commitment and political will to implement a rights based agenda to disability issues, โit is unlikely that sufficient human and natural resources will be made available for disability service provision.โ To DFID, the study called for incorporation of a disability component in their future programmes, among the many recommendations made.
The author is a fellow with the Makerere University School of Public Health - U.S. Centres for Disease Control Fellowship Programme.
Additional Information
Country: Uganda
Website: http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/features/Uganda_needs_to_strengthen_its_disability_policies_94412.shtml
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Source: Mail from: MORI Soya
When: 25/11/2009
