Refugees with Disabilities Celebrate Disability Day with a Call for Inclusive Education & Healthcare services

BY SADIQ BAMWITA

Refugees in Uganda under their umbrella body” Association of Refugees with Disabilities (ARD),have joined the rest of the world to celebrate the International Day of people with Disabilities and called upon the government to consider refugees with disabilities in government programs like education , heath and financial inclusion .

The Executive Director for the Association of Refugees with Disabilities, James Muombamungu noted that it’s very important for them to celebrate the International Day for Persons with Disabilities because as refugees the day brings them together to acknowledge their efforts and also share gaps associated with Inclusivity of refugees.

While addressing Journalists in Kampala, Muombamungu said following the outbreak of the humanitarian crisis , many refugees with disabilities are heavily affected in terms of handouts like food supply . He adds that to make matters worse, most refugees with disabilities can’t participate in farming which is the major economic activity in the refugee resettlement camps. It’s for this reason that Muombamungu calls upon the government to extend some support to deal with the worrying situation in the refugee camps.

” Funding for food has drastically reduced , refugees with Disabilities have no access to gainful employment. Therefore, we call upon the government to include refugees with disabilities in gainful economic activities. Let’s empower them and also include them in our society, ” Muombamungu sounded his appeal.

‘ We also lack inclusive schools in the refugee resettlement camps and the schools are far away from the refugee camp hence refugee children with disabilities can’t access them.’

Mr.Hassan Mulondo, a member of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities, said most refugees with disabilities lack access to information and government programs like the Parish Development Model which only caters for natives with disabilities.

“Persons with disabilities have a gain of 10% on PDM program but this is only for natives with disabilities while refugees with disabilities are not catered for. This is a huge barrier to socio-economic transformation, ” Mulondo expressed concern.

Mulondo also expressed displeasure on the design of Uganda’s education curriculum which he says doesn’t suit or match with refugees who come from foreign countries to settle in Uganda.

“The education curriculum was designed for only Ugandan natives with disabilities. For instance ,the medium of Communication is English yet in other foreign countries children are taught in different languages, ” Mr.  Mulondo expressed concern.

The 2025 winner of  Miss Ability Western Uganda, Jennifer Kubawo Bumali, observed that most schools are not user-friendly to persons with disabilities citing lack of toilet facilities for disabled children, sign interpreters and exclusion in sporting activities.

She also revealed that persons with disabilities are usually segregated in the job market because some organizations don’t believe that they can perform well.

On this note, she appealed to the government and other actors to provide a platform for persons with Disabilities to work in an inclusive work environment.

“In most cases , we are not given a chance to work because we have disabilities yet we also have the ability to perform like our counterparts who are able . I implore the government to employ sign language interpreters in schools such that we are also included in the education sector.’

The Town Clerk of Lubaga Division John Bosco Bashinyora, said as Kampala Capital City Authority they have put in place a strategic plan for Inclusivity adding that the government has put in place a number of laws to support refugees with disabilities.

The Head of Gender, Child Protection and Human Rights Advocate at the Norwegian Refugee Council , Mercy Florence, called upon stakeholders to implement all government programs that benefit refugees with disabilities rather than leaving them on paper.

Mercy strongly condemned those who stigmatize persons with disabilities and called on the government to accelerate access to information among refugees with disabilities.