Disability in Uganda

Curated news and resources on inclusion and rights

Library > Countries > Africa > Uganda

This page has curated news from Uganda. There are a total of 51 links.

Highlights

In International Cooperation:

Uganda’s Diverse Disability Movement Offers Lessons for an Ableist Global Philanthropy. (2022, Yes!)

Contents

COVID-19

Impact

Spaces of Exclusion and Neglect: The Impact of COVID-19 on People With Disabilities in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, and Uganda. (2023, Space and Culture)

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Response

The response to Covid-19 in Northern Uganda should be disability-inclusive. A report on a research project between June 21 to August 22. (2022, University of Bristol)

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Civil Society and Community

Empowering Voices: The Journey of an OPD Interview with Disability People's Forum Uganda (Jun, Inklusion leben)

Interview with Esther, CEO of National Union of Disabled persons of Uganda (NUPIDU). “NUDIPU is not comfortable with some of the big international NGOs.” (2023, ADD)

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Communication and Language

Sign Languages

When inclusion is an illusion: sign language interpreters and the pitfalls for ‘inclusive’ development. Exploring a 2018 case study:

“Yet when NGOs or government chose interpreters, they required the guarantee of ‘professionalism’ that came with being employed by the school. They did not check the quality of the interpretation, instead simply relying on the school’s reputation. Many local interpreters were never considered for ‘professional’ assignments, because they were considered part of the ‘community’, though they were sometimes asked to interpret informally and unpaid.” (Sep, From Poverty to Power)

The Silenced Voices: Sign Language Interpreters Pave the Way for Deaf Access to Healthcare in Uganda. (Aug, The Elephant)

​​Verifying news for the deaf community in Uganda. An initiative training sign language interpreters has wider benefits:

“The WhatsApp group has grown into a community of 400 sign language interpreters, deaf individuals, and their hearing family members. Members share suspicious information they encounter and the sign language interpreters help debunk it.” (May, Reframing Disability)

Reasonable accommodation for Deaf persons on why provision of a sign language interpreter needs to be accompanied by further measures. (2022, IDA)

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Culture, Entertainment and Media

TV and Film

The Ugandan woman behind TV for the deaf (2022, Disability Insider)

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Clothing and Fashion

Inclusive fashion show “one of a kind fashion show organized to raise awareness for the International Deaf week in Uganda. The event was made to raise funds for Dove School which is a special needs school in Kampala.” (2023, Africanews)

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Data and Research

“Frivolous, erroneous and obnoxious”: persons with disabilities critique the Uganda Bureau of Statistics which found in 2024 a reduced prevalence of disability of 5.7%. (Oct, New Vision)

Exploring demographic and health survey data (2023, Disability Data Initiative)

We are able: interactive radio campaign. Respondents without disabilities more likely to say disabled people experience food insecurity because of low self-esteem and negative attitude than because they face exclusion. (2023, Trac FM)

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Digital Accessibility and Technology

Luganda text-to-speech: breaking barriers and promoting accessibility for visually impaired. (Mar, Africa News)

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Economics and Social Protection

Overview

The economic burden incurred by families caring for a young child with developmental disability in Uganda. “Seventy-three caregivers took part in this sub-study. The average annual cost of illness to families was USD 949. The main cost drivers were the cost of seeking care and income lost due to loss of employment.” (2023, Plos Global Public Health)

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Financial Inclusion

Economic empowerment improves disability inclusion: evidence from projects in Rwanda and Uganda working with Village Savings and Loans Associations. (2023, CBM UK)

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Social Protection

Disability Inclusion Lifts Rural Ugandan Families From Poverty description of a poverty-reduction programme by BRAC (2022, Africa.com)

Social protection for disability inclusion in Uganda. See also synthesis paper that compares Uganda and Kenya. (2021, Inclusive Futures)

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Education and Childhood

Facing the challenge of understanding how Northern biases and assumptions impact the research process: Considering the researcher positionality in exploring local practice of disability-inclusive education in Uganda. (2023, Disability and the Global South)

Breaking barriers: FCA Uganda ensures access to education for children with disabilities. (2023, Finn Church Aid)

Experts blame special needs poor grades on few teachers. “The poor performance among special needs learners, both in classwork and at national examinations, has been attributed to a lack of skilled teachers and inadequate learning materials and equipment, a top education official has said.” (2023, Monitor)

Concern as deaf learners perform poorly in Primary Leaving Exams. (2023, Monitor)

They may have lost sight, but digital assistive learning technologies have given learners a vision. (2022, UNICEF)

A Fundraiser by Connor Scott-Gardner to help Salama Blind School after a Devastating Fire (2022, Go Fund Me)

Understanding child disability: Factors associated with child disability at the Iganga-Mayuge Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (2022, Plos One)

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Employment, Business and Work

Closing the Employment Gap a feature video on how Ugandans with Disabilities Advocate for a More Inclusive Work Environment (2022, Disability Justice Project)

Celebrating “Make 12,4% work” a project for economic empowerment of persons with disabilities. Report discusses the way disability inclusion facilitators implemented the program and a detailed description of methodology and lessons learned. “Disability Inclusive Development is an emerging field with no blueprint readily available for practitioners developing and implementing programmes in the sector. In addition, a high level of complexity exists due to intersectionality and the diversity in disability.” (2022, LFTW)

Banking on Inclusion the experience of Stanbic bank. See also Lekker Bakery and Riley Packaging. (2022, Make 12.4% Work)

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Gender Equality and Women with Disabilities

Notions around a “Successful Woman with Disabilities”: Exploring voices of girls in Nepal, Malawi and Uganda. “Success for both girls with and without disabilities encompassed not just financial independence and accumulation of material wealth but also personal characteristics such as kindness and human connection.” (2023, Inclusive Education Initiative)

Leave No Woman Behind: A blog on Disability, Gender, and Employment. (2022, Disability Justice Project)

Leading the Charge a feature on Christine Oliver Dhikusooka and her work mobilizing around women with disabilities. (2022, Disability Justice Project)

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Health

Exploring the barriers to healthcare access among persons with disabilities: a qualitative study in rural Luuka district, Uganda. In the words of one participant:

“I feel frustrated that even if I get to the health facility, am going to be outside because no one will push my wheelchair into the building without the ramps. When I am well dressed, I have to crawl on the floor from one place to another and get dirty in order to get treatment. That alone hinders me from going to the hospital.” (Nov, BMJ Open)

Suggested solutions to barriers in accessing healthcare by persons with disability in Uganda: a qualitative study. (Aug, BMC Health Services Research)

Co-development of a training programme on disability for healthcare workers (Apr, BMC Health Services Research)

Hospital and a home: Uganda shelters offer a lifeline to cancer patients. (2022, the Guardian)

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Humanitarian, Migrants and Refugees

Uganda eases registration for elderly, disabled Sudanese refugees “Instead, they can now register in Kampala, easing access to essential services.” (Mar, Sudan Tribune)

Gap Analysis on Disability Inclusive Humanitarian Action in Eastern Africa “While some organisations are making efforts to include the inclusion of persons with disabilities in their programming, challenges remain, such as a lack of inclusion of the insights of persons with disabilities, insufficient disaggregation of data and inadequate budget allocation.” (2023, CBM UK)

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International Cooperation

Case Studies on Disability Inclusion in JICA Projects Features projects from Bangladesh, Mongolia and Uganda. (Link to pdf, 2023, JICA)

Light for the World Uganda Annual Report 2022 (Link to PDF, 2023, LFTW)

The Disability Inclusive Graduation Program alleviating poverty. (2023, Borgen Project)

Uganda’s Diverse Disability Movement Offers Lessons for an Ableist Global Philanthropy. (2022, Yes!)

OPD Conversations: Building Confidence and Challenging Stigma and on inclusive communications during COVID-19. (2022, CBM UK)

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Lived Experience and Opinion

A Peace Fellow and polio survivor focuses on accessibility: feature on Ronald Kasule. (2023, Rotary)

Let it pass an animated poem about the lived experience of anxiety. (2022, Making it Work)

Why I do self-advocacy as a deafblind youth (2022, Voices of Youth)

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Policy and Rights

Disability-Inclusive Education and Employment: Understanding the Context (2023, Mastercard Foundation)

A music video on disability rights: Did You Know - Air Jay ft Daxx Kartel (2022, Make 12.4% Work)

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Politics and Elections

Short video on Deputy Mayor Kauma “Fazira Kauma Toppled Political Barriers in Uganda When She Became the First Woman and the First Blind Citizen To Be Appointed Deputy Mayor in Jinja” (2023, Disability Justice Project)

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Relationships, Sex and Reproductive Rights

Ugandan Parliament Passes Extreme Anti-LGBT Bill:

“But one of the most egregious provisions – the bill calls it “aggravated homosexuality” – calls for the death penalty in certain circumstances, including for “serial offenders,” or for anyone having same-sex relations with a person with a disability, thereby automatically denying persons with disabilities the capacity to consent to sex.” (2023, Human Rights Watch)

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Violence and Harassment

Disability status, partner behavior, and the risk of sexual intimate partner violence: an analysis of the demographic and health survey data. (2022, BMC Public Health)

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