“Whenever I think of the
past, it brings back so many memories”.
This quote by
Steven Wright an Oscar winning film producer
resonates with my
life when I look back at when I was 5 years of age.
One evening
as I was taking my bath I suddenly I had commotion and noise from our front yard
which was close to Kanjokya Street. A car had just knocked down my 3 year old
brother and smashed his leg. That was the beginning of a different life for our
family. Knowing and accepting that Eddie will forever be different from other
children; will never participate in certain sports and forever use crutches to
move.I have witnessed a 3 year old learn to walk again with the use of
crutches. I have cried with him as his heart got broken from the teasing. To
cut a long story short, my mother struggled and was determined that Eddie will
learn to walk again without the use of crutches, and avoid a leg amputationso
as to shun the discrimination of a society back then and today that seldom
caters for Diversity and Inclusion of disabled persons.
Diversity and
inclusion is all about understanding that we are all different and shouldfocus
on the needs and right conditions of every individual are in place for each
person to achieve their full potential.
The Persons with Disabilities (PWD)Act
2006 defines disability as “a substantial functional limitation of daily life
activities caused by physical, mental or sensory impairment and environmental
barriers resulting in limited participation”. That is persons with hearing
& sight impairments, and the mentally challenged and physically handicapped.
The National Population and Housing Census 2014 conducted by
UBOSindicated
that overall, for the
population aged 5 years and above, disability prevalence was close to 14% which
is 5million disabled persons in Uganda. Question is how we address the
situation of including them in our social and economic livelihood.
Women and men with
disabilities can and want to be productive members of society.
The Government of Uganda has adopted a number of laws and
policies pertaining to people with disabilities, including their right to
productive and decent work and basic services. The key ones are:
The Persons with Disabilities Act,
2006, also provides
for a tax reduction of 15 per cent to private employers who employ ten or more
persons with disabilities either as regular employees or apprentice on a full
time basis.For example, BarclaysBank (U)
Ltd approximately9 years ago had a sight impaired gentleman operating the
switchboard. Uber a new taxi business in Uganda employs hearing impaired
drivers. On 4th April, a Facebook
friend- Robert Sebunya attested to this through his experience of being driven
by an uber driver who was hard of hearing. When he received the notification
from Uber that he was being picked by a deaf driver…he almost cancelled the
ride! I am sure most of us would be tempted to do the same. We are just not
comfortable with dealing “challenging” situations.
In my personal experience, while I was still living with
my parents, my mother hired a physically disabled house help. She moved with
one hand supporting the Knee. We were quite uncomfortable around her for some
time as we didn’t know how to behave around her;she proved to be one of the
best house helps we have ever had.
A number of laws have
been put into place to cater for persons with disabilities
·
The
Local Government Act, 1997, Parliamentary Elections Statute, 1996,
aims to increase the representation of disabled people in
the public sphere. It provides for representation of disabled people at the
various Local Council levels and in parliament respectively. KCCA has 2 disabled councilors and there are five
seats in Parliament for representatives of persons with disabilities.
·
The
Traffic and Road Safety Act, 1998, prohibit
denial of a driving permit on the basis ofDisability.
·
Uganda national currency has a braille feature for the blind
which is commendable.
·
By the same token, Uganda National
Examinations Board caters
for students who are, sight and hearing impaired ordyslexic. E.g.my nephew who is dyslexic was able to sit
for his PLE exams
last year with the support of an examiner who orally examined him and another who
penned down his answers.
·
THE
KAMPALA CAPITAL CITYACT, 2010 in section 25 ensures that public buildings are, "as far as practicable",
accessible to persons with disabilities. All buildings constructed after that
date, have to be brought into compliance with the ACT. All old buildings have
up to 10 years within which to comply with the Act. For examplequite a number
of government and public buildings do not have elevators or escalators. Some of
the buildings have very narrow doors that cannot be accessed by those on wheel
chairs.
Is there more
the government can do? Yes of course.
ü Access to Services:For example News broadcasts. Not all TV stations have sign language for
those hard of hearing though it is available on the national broadcaster.
But What can you and I, do about ensuring decent work for
people with disabilities to realize their aspirations and participate more
actively in society?
·
Ensuring
a disability perspective in all aspects of policy and labor legislation.
·
Effective
enforcement of existing disability laws and policies and providing for equal employment opportunities
·
Include
modules in schools on awareness of disability with the aim of appreciating diversity
and inclusion of disabled persons.
Mahatma Gandhi said“It's
the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the
right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that
there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing.
You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing,
there will be no result.”
LYNDA NABAYIINDA'S CC7 SPEECH
