By Sarah Among
Persons with disabilities, under their umbrella organization, the National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU), in collaboration with the Uganda Media Women Association (UMWA) and the East Africa Centre for Disability Law and Policy, have tasked the Uganda Bureau of Statistics to conduct an urgent census for persons with disabilities (PWD’s) for easy planning purposes.
NUDIPU Board Member Robinson Otim says current statistics for PWDs are outdated, resulting in gaps in budget allocation.
The Uganda Bureau of Statistics Census Report (UBOS 2016) indicated that 12.4% of the Ugandan population lives with some form of disability, implying that approximately 4.5 million Ugandans are persons with disabilities, hence a development concern.
The same report indicates that about 16% of Ugandan children have a disability, suggesting that most children with disabilities are not able to attend school and that learners with special needs fail to transition from one educational level to another.
Addressing the media at NUDIPU headquarter to share how disability has been performing in the gender and equity assessment conducted by the Equal Opportunities Commission on gender equity by Ministries, departments, and Agencies, Omi urged the ministry of finance to allocate more of these MDAs to support the gender and equity sector to benefit the Persons With Disabilities sector.
Uganda is among the countries in the world implementing gender and equity budgeting, where Ministries, departments, and Agencies are required to address gender and equity in their plans and budgets throughout their entire process.
Martin Senoga, program Manager for NUDIPU, appealed to Ministries, departments, and Agencies to work closely with Nudipu and other organizations for Persons with disabilities during the planning and budgeting processes.
However, according to NUDIPU, UMWA, and the East Africa Centre for Disability Law and Policy report on gender and equity assessment for the period 2019–2022, overall commitment by Ministries, departments, and Agencies stood at only 30%.
In the 2023–2024 budget, finance allocated only 27% to the gender and equity sectors.