Refugees with disabilities decry exclusion in education, healthcare
Refugees living in Uganda have decried growing exclusion from financial-related projects, education, and healthcare services in the country.
Through their umbrella organisation, Association of Refugees with Disabilities (ARD), they have called upon the government to consider in key government programmes, especially education, health and financial-related projects.
They made the call during belated International Day of People with Disabilities celebrations.
According to the association’s executive director, Mr James Muombamungu, they need to celebrate the day because it brings them together to acknowledge their efforts and also share gaps associated with the inclusivity of refugees.
He said following the international aid cut, especially by the Donald Trump administration, many refugees with disabilities are gravely affected in terms of limited handouts like food supply, and this has been worsened by the fact that most refugees with disabilities can’t participate in farming, which is the major economic activity in their settlements.
It’s for this reason that Muombamungu wants the government to extend some support to deal with the worrying situation in the refugee camps.
“Funding for food has drastically reduced, and 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. We also lack inclusive schools in the refugee resettlement camps. The available schools are far away from the refugee camps, hence refugee children with disabilities can’t access them,” Mr Muombamungu appealed.
Mr Hassan Mulondo, a member of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities, said most refugees with disabilities lack access to information and government programmes like the Parish Development Model (PDM), which only caters for natives.
“Persons with disabilities have a gain of 10 per cent on PDM programme, 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,” Mr Mulondo said.
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 added.
The 2025 winner of Miss Ability Western Uganda, Jennifer Kubawo Bumali, observed that most schools are not user-friendly to persons with disabilities, citing a lack of toilet facilities for disabled children, sign interpreters and exclusion in sporting activities.
She also revealed that PWDs are usually segregated in the job market because some organisations don’t believe that they can perform well.
She appealed to the government and other actors to provide a platform for PWDs 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 can perform like our counterparts who are abled. I implore the government to employ sign language interpreters in schools such that we are also included in the education sector,’ she said.
The town clerk of Rubaga Division, John Bosco Bashinyora, said Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has put in place a strategic plan for inclusivity, adding that the government has put in place several laws to support refugees with disabilities.
The head of Gender, Child Protection and Human Rights Advocate at the Norwegian Refugee Council, Ms Mercy Florence, called upon stakeholders to implement all government programmes that benefit refugees with disabilities rather than leaving them on paper.
She condemned those who stigmatise persons with disabilities and urged the government to accelerate access to information among refugees with disabilities