By As Uganda prepares to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) tomorrow, disability rights groups are warning that government wealth-creation programmes continue to exclude those they were designed to uplift.
Although the Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development reports that over UGX 42.5 billion has been injected into the National Special Grant for Persons with Disabilities over the last five years, many beneficiaries across the country say systemic barriers still prevent them from accessing meaningful economic support.
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Speaking at the Uganda Media Centre ahead of the national celebrations, Minister of State for Disability Affairs Hellen Grace Asamo admitted that participation of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in mainstream livelihood programmes remains “unacceptably low.”
Fresh studies show worrying numbers: only 0.4% of youth with disabilities have benefited from the Youth Livelihood Programme; 0.9% from NAADS; 0.4% from Operation Wealth Creation; and just 0.5% of women with disabilities from UWEP.
“These programmes were created for all Ugandans, yet PWDs remain at the periphery,” Asamo said, citing discrimination, inaccessible offices, lack of supportive devices, and limited financial literacy as major obstacles.
Under the Parish Development Model (PDM), government guarantees 10% of each parish revolving fund to persons with disabilities, but activists say the money often fails to reach the intended beneficiaries due to bureaucratic bottlenecks and inadequate monitoring.
While the ministry highlighted progress including expanded vocational training, improved rehabilitation services, and efforts to standardize Uganda Sign Language disability organizations argue that such interventions remain concentrated in urban centres, leaving rural communities underserved.
This year’s IDPD will be celebrated under the theme, “Wealth Creation Programmes: A Key to Socio-Economic Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.” The national event will be held at the Uganda National Institute of Teachers’ Education (UNITE) in Mubende, where President Yoweri Museveni is expected to preside.
Civil society leaders say the occasion should serve as a wake-up call.
“Policy alone cannot put food on a family’s table,” one disability advocate told this publication. “We need accountability, transparency, and deliberate inclusion not statistics.”
Uganda marks the day as disability prevalence reaches 13.6%, according to the latest UBOS report a reminder that inclusion is not optional, but a national development imperative.
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