1. MAINSTREAMING ISSUES OF YOUTH WITH DISABILITIES IN LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS Presentation by Fredrick Ouko Executive Director Action Network for the Disabled

2. Why mainstream? In the 21 st century and beyond, young men and women are the greatest asset for the present and the future. Youth are a distinct stakeholder group whose participation is a requirement for national development and East African Community integration. Youth with disabilities is an often forgotten constituent within the disability and youth movement within the EAC and globally yet an important transitionary population with different needs that require close attention. Even though not wholly targeted by a number of initiatives in the member states, there are a number of initiatives within the countries both from the civil societies, Disabled Persons Organizations and Government Ministries that make attempts to service their needs. There is a serious need to address issues affecting youth with disabilities in the EAC region given the fact that, they constitute the larger majority of persons with disabilities within the region and paying a lip service to their needs is equivalent to auctioning their future. "A barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disabilities"

3. Snapshots of what can be done modeled on CRPD Article 5: Equality and non-discrimination Various projects and government efforts have been made towards ensuring that discrimination on the grounds of disability is eliminated and YWDs are viewed as any other citizen. The establishment of Gender and Equality Commission and the Kenyan National Human Rights Commission helps safeguard these rights. The same is for other member’s states with equivalent institutions as envisioned by the CRPD, but the question begs; do we have a representation of PWDs? How do the institutions interact with this vital constituent that often finds itself being discriminated against? "A barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disabilities"

4. …CONT’ Article 6: Women with disabilities Girls and young women with disabilities face multiple barriers in their day to day lives. Projects such as inclusive education, livelihood and other interventions have specific indicators that target girls and women with disabilities. Our constitutions also provides for inclusion of women with disabilities and thus by extension, young women with disabilities in all spheres of life. It is imperative for every initiative targeting women within the region to pay specific attention to young women with disabilities including representation on the East African Youth Council, National Youth Councils and other policy making institutions within the region. "A barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disabilities"

5. …CONT’ Article 7: Children with disabilities The right of Children with disabilities to education, social protection, family life and participation are addressed in our constitutions.Various DPOs projects in Kenya and other member states have engaged with policy makers, community leaders and PWDs to ensure that the rights of children with disabilities are protected and promoted. The foundation that is given to a child with a disability determines how they progress into their youth years and then adulthood. Child participation becomes important and thus policies that re-enforce this are required across the region. "A barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disabilities"

6. …CONT’ Article 8: Awareness-raising In order to ensure that the rights of young people with disabilities are respected and protected, awareness raising is critical in our interventions. To this regard, a number of local and national & regional campaigns which include; meetings with politicians and local leaders, media engagement, community awareness, public meeting and campaigns have been undertaken. These forums are often used to influence disability matters where PWDs are given opportunity to address the audiences about their inspirations, dreams, and their campaign works to change lives of disabled people. As a consequence, these efforts have generated positive results such as increased awareness and appreciation of disability rights in most of the member states as is evident by parents and community members making efforts to take their children to schools, accessibility in public building improving through engagement and directly lobbying local politicians and leaders contributes to the implementation and inclusion of disability in existing policies and legislation. Their is a need to continuously point out that persons with disabilities are not an homogenous group and thus the needs of youth will be different and requiring different strategies to tackle. "A barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disabilities"

7. …CONT’ Article 9: Accessibility It is true that the main barriers that youth with disabilities encounter in their daily lives are physical environment, transportation and communication. Projects in Inclusive Education have contributed to primary and secondary schools being physically accessible to children and youth with disabilities. This has been done by building ramps in these schools, widening doors, enlarging windows to increase the levels of lights in classrooms and building accessible toilets for children and youth with disabilities. Campaigns for accessible public buildings to ensure effective participation of young people with disabilities in their own communities has been carried out by DPOs and organizations interested in the youth sector though a lot is needed to operationalize the laws touching on issues of accessibility in the country. "A barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disabilities"

8. …CONT’ Article 21: Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information. Several DPOs have advocated for access to information for people with disabilities. The engagements in Kenya were made directly with the Communication Commission of Kenya and other media houses on the need for access to information for PWDs. As a result, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation has introduced sign interpretation services during the parliament proceedings and Kenya Television Network has also ensured that deaf people are not left out during news bullets by having qualified sign language interpretation. This allows youth with disabilities to access the information they need to make daily decisions about their lives, work and any developmental issues. An effort is now required to ensure that even though the constitution provides for this right, all media facilities provide for access to pwds. Member states need to ensure that persons with disabilities are represented on the regulatory bodies within the media industry for inclusion of views and concerns of persons with disabilities. "A barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disabilities"

9. …CONT’ Article 24: Right to Education. It is largely postulated that the best approach to ensure access to education for children and youth with disabilities is through inclusive education concept. Having children and youth learning together in the same classroom, using materials appropriate to their various needs, and participating in the same lessons and recreation. In an inclusive school, children & youth with disabilities do not study in separate classes; instead teaching methods, textbooks, materials and the school environment are designed so that boys and girls with a range of disabilities can be included in the same class. Even though governments in EAC have made an attempt to provide free and compulsory primary and secondary education, there is a challenge of adequate resourcing commensurate with various disability needs and more support and allocation of resources is needed to guarantee youth with disabilities access to college and university education. There is need for a representation of persons with disabilities on educational policy formulation and supervisor "A barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disabilities"

10. …CONT’ Article 25 and 26 : Health and habilitation and Rehabilitation Various rehabilitation projects are supported both by government and development organization, it is however challenging for adolescents to access health information in accessible formats for them to make informed health decisions. This presents a requirement for representation on health boards by youth with disabilities to help ensure access to health services to this population within the region. "A barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disabilities"

11. …CONT’ Article 27 and 28: work and employment & adequate standard of living and social protection There are various projects run by both governments and DPOs that include life skills, entrepreneurial trainings and provision of small loan to young people with disabilities to start up their own businesses. These initiatives have also worked with employers from both public and private sectors to recognize the capability and potential of people with disabilities through awareness and disability mainstreaming initiatives. As a result considerable numbers of people with disabilities have been hired by governments in the EAC region and the private sector. In Kenya, the government has also allocated resources through The National Development Fund for People with Disabilities, Uwezo Fund, and Women Enterprise Fund that can be accessed by youth with disabilities to fund their income activities. It is however important to note that the running of these funds need to include youth with disabilities in its decision-making structures to capture the aspirations and dynamism that is “youth” the-lived experience would benefit this efforts and scale up the anticipated impact. "A barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disabilities"

12. …CONT’ Article 29: Participation in political and public life As noted by the EAC disability policy and the UN CRPD, participation in formulation and implementation of policies and legislation is important and needs to be guaranteed for PWDs within member states. The disability movement in Kenya has ensured the participation of people with disabilities in political processes. In 2013 for instance, during the General Election PWDs participated as both election observers and also candidates. Since the constitution provides for representation of PWDs, young people have taken up the opportunity both within the disability slots and outside to participate in various localities in bringing forth the disability agenda in the governance framework. Even though this is still a new concept in Kenya, our neighbouring country has done extremely well (Uganda) and we now need to move to the level of active participation, reviewing the impact brought about by political participation and ensure that this spreads out to East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) which currently only has one member who has a disability. "A barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disabilities"

13. Actualizing the involvement of youth Ensure that they are represented in the disability regional coordination forum. Institute a mechanism for representation at EALA by member states. Ensure representation at East African Youth Council. Ensure representation at National Youth Council. Ensure that they actively participate and are in decision making organs of the proposed East African Youth Network. Representation in the National Council for Persons with Disabilities. "A barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disabilities"

14. Thank You! Fredrick Ouko Executive Director Action Network for the Disabled Email: f.ouko@andy.or.kef.ouko@andy.or.ke www.andy.or.ke @ActioNetwork "A barrier-free society fully inclusive of persons with disabilities"