EMPLOYMENT SITUATION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN UGANDA: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES A presentation made by Ugandan Delegation on a Conference on “Employment of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)” From 26th – 28th October, 2016 Istanbul- Turkey

Presentation Outline 1. Introduction Definition Legal framework on PWDs 2. Current status of PWDs in labour Market 3. Challenges with PWDs (Govt/PWDs) 4. Experience with PWDs 5. Service regarding Vocational Training and Rehabilitation of PWDs 6. Prospects/Solution Mechanisms

1. Introduction Definition Disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives (WHO; 2002), (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)) Based on the ICF definition of disability, over a billion people worldwide are PWDs (UBOS, 2012) Uganda is a signatory to several international pieces of legislation advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities including the 2008 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and 1983 International Labour Organisation Convention on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of disabled persons

Introduction - cont’d- 1 Uganda’s Constitution, 1995, recognizes the rights of PWDs and provides the basis for the enactment of laws and development of policies that address their concerns; The Uganda National Policy on Disability, 2006, ensures legal protection and equal opportunities for PWDs, emphasizing a rights-based approach to disability; Equal Opportunities Commission Act, 2008; provides for promoting equal opportunities for marginalised groups, and PWDs inclusive; The 1996 Children’s Statute for Early Assessment of Disabilities amongst children; to achieve early treatment, rehabilitation and education; The 1997 Local Government Act that established representation of PWDs at all local government levels for both males and females. The 1998 UNISE Act, for the establishment of the Uganda National Institute of Education (UNISE) for special teacher training for children with disabilities (CWDs). The practical enactment of the aforementioned laws include the election of PWDs at all levels of political life from the village to parliament, making Uganda one of the countries with the highest numbers of elected representatives with PWDs in the world (WHO & World Bank 2011:171).

2. Current Status Uganda National Household Census (UNHC), 2014 reveals that: Estimated that about 12% (4 million)of Uganda's population of 34 million are PWDs as per the 2014 census O/w 80% of PWDs living in long term poverty with limited access to education, health facilities, sustainable housing and employment Uganda has a young population of PWDs; with population aged 2 years and above with disability prevalence rate of 12.4 %, while the equivalent for 5 years and above is close to 14 %; Disability is higher among women compared to men; The disability prevalence rate is higher among those living in the rural areas compared to those in the urban areas; Prevalence of societal and cultural negative attitudes and perceptions (exclusion of PWDs) have been indicated as the greatest obstacle to disability; “Disability is Inability”.

2. Current Status- cont’d-1 The prevalence of disability increases with age AGE GROUP DISABILITY PREVALENCE (%) 5-29 12% 30-39 19% 40-49 31% 50-59 49%

2. Current Status- Cont’d-2 Population Distribution by Disability Status (2014)   Disability Type of disability Without A Disability With A Disability Seeing Hearing Remembering Walking Total 28,610,240 4,096,477 2,129,279 1,083,649 1,776,911 1,476,959

2. Current Status - cont’d -3

2. Current Status - cont’d -4 Economic Activity status (10 years+) With A Disability Working 24,753 Actively looking for work 800 Not working and not looking for work (Not Economically Active) 1,200

2. Current Status- cont’d- 5 What is government doing in the promotion of PWDs Tax Exemptions to private companies who employ PWDs (10% withholding Tax to Social Security Fund contributions); Integration of PWDs in the country’s National Development Plans (NDP II). Current government strategy towards interventions of PWDs is through the Community Based Rehabilitation Programme; equalization of opportunities; Inclusive Education System; UPE, USE AND special allocation of university scholarships for PWDs through affirmative action and the right to assets including land Developed the National Program and Plan of Action on Disability that focuses on: • Livelihoods and Employment; • Accessibility to Basic Services; • Physical Environment and Information; • Capacity building; • Conflict and Humanitarian emergencies; • Research and Documentation; •Modification of new Public building designs to ensure easy access by PWDs. Provision of special disability grant to support socio-economic development and employment opportunities for PWDs in districts estimated at 12,000 USD per annum. Continued cooperation with the civil society. Implementation of Youth Livelihood Programme where a total of 2,926 PWDs (1,609 Males and 1,317 Females)

3. Challenges Challenges with Government Lack of authentic disaggregated and readily available statistics by gender, disability and region to back up most of the efforts government has made towards the promotion of the rights of PWDs; makes planning rather difficult; Limited use of accessible information especially within education and health service provision Government efforts towards inclusive education have often been criticised and accused of putting children with disabilities amongst able bodied children without adequate modifications to the teaching and learning environment, and with inadequate specialised teachers Poverty Existence of environmental physical/structural barriers Challenges with PWDs Societal and cultural negative attitudes and perceptions (exclusion) of PWDs; has been indicated as the greatest obstacle to disability inclusion. Self-esteem and self-confidence Note that school drop out for PWDS in schools is high

4.Experience with PWDs The Institution responsible for PWDs is the ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development; Establishments of the legal and policy frame work on PWDs rights specially affirmative action in the Uganda constitution on disadvantaged groups (Article 32) Disability Act 2006, which has a section on employment local government Act which establishes local councils as planning authorities in which PWDs are represented, National Council for Disability to monitor implementation of development programmes and employment agencies to ensure that PWDs issues are prioritized, Parliamentary Elections Act 2005 which provides for elections of PWDs representatives in Parliament who have influenced issues of persons with disability in the employment frame work, employment policy which mandates the commissioner for Labour to present the employment situation of PWDs in Parliament, Disability policy 2006 and action plan which guides employers to recruit PWDs. Special Grant for PWDs to support groups of PWDs in the establishment of projects and enterprises for their employment and income generation. The funds are managed by committee of representatives of PWDs at district level and are non- refundable currency. It covers all the districts in the country. The National Council for Disability and the Ministry monitor the implementation of grant.

4. Experience with PWDs- Cont’d- 1 Majority of PWDs that under go training are the physically impaired, while other categories such as deaf and blind are fewer due to limited capacity of the trainers; Carries out awareness campaigns targeting employers to take on PWDs in their relevant occupations. However, those employed by institution are few, compared to those with established production workshops/ individual businesses; The institutional programmes are limited in scope in view of the fact that they focuses only on traditional vocational skills in this era of IT. After training, the Institution carries out resettlement of PWDs with relevant resettlement tools to enable them to become productive in their communities and employable thus contributing to National Development;

5. Services Regarding Vocational Training and Rehabilitation of PWDs Recruitment and training in vocational skills ie carpentry, Tailoring, cosmetology, leather works and welding and fabrications. Psycho-social support specifically career guidance on the vocations to undertake. Support in acquisition of assistive devices to enhance participation and mobility. Support in form of resettlement kits for PWDs to start income generating activities. Lobbying and advocacy campaigns on employers and agencies to take on PWDs.

5. Services Regarding Vocational Training and Rehabilitation of PWDs- cont’d -1 Guide PWDs in proposal writing as a means for resource mobilization to implement income generating activities- establishment of steering CBR committee on National and lower local governments to coordinate the implementation of programs and projects in favor of PWDs. Creating awareness to employment providers to absorb PWDs; and referral of trained PWDs to the employment organizations and institutions.

6. Prospects and Solution Mechanisms Provision of accessible information and assistive devices to enhance mobility, especially in health and education programmes to ensure social inclusion of PWDs; Earmarking of disability funds in all government MDAs to ensure that disability as a crosscutting issue is prioritised in all government programmes; Need for systematic data collection, analysis and disability mainstreaming in all government MDAs reports, to enable performance and policies assessment over.

6. Prospects and Solution Mechanism- Cont’d- 1 Need for affirmative action and better supports, are needed at the tertiary level where students with disabilities are underrepresented; Need for innovations and reforms to create jobs; include reforming the Disability Employment Services Need for a comprehensive strategic response targeting the social, cultural attitudinal and economic barriers that prevent PWDs from getting into work; employers need to see the benefits of employing PWDs and not see them as an imposters and non-performers; Training more educators in inclusive education to meet the increased demand in schools due to universal education (UPE&USE) Advocacy to change societal and cultural negative attitudes towards PWDs  

Thank you for listening