The National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU) on Tuesday carried out one day training for Government Budget officers on disability inclusion at Kampala Imperial Royal Hotel.
The Budget officers were drawn from Ministries of Finance, Internal Affairs, Gender, Labour and Social Development, Lands, Office of the Prime Minister and Health. Others were drawn from Government Agencies namely; Equal Opportunities Commission, Uganda Human Rights Commission, Uganda National Roads Authority, Kampala Capital City Authority, Uganda Prisons Services and National Drug Authority among others.
John Ninsiima, NUDIPU Programs Director, told participants of their cardinal role as budget officers to always plan for inclusion of persons living with disability in their budgets because persons with disability have the right to access services and opportunities in Government, just as others do. He said NUDIPU is not the one to find remedies for persons living with disability, but do advocacy role in favor of persons living with disability.
“NUDIPU has been in existence since 1987 and our mandate is to advocate for the rights of persons with disability,” he said.
He said persons with disability have been discriminated, stereotyped and subjected to unfair treatment for long, which is why Government budget officers should work hand in hand with NUDIPU to walk the talk by finding a lasting solution to challenges facing persons with disability.
“After this training, you should be our Ambassadors and tell the story on what is required to handle people with disability,”he added.
NUDIPU Programme Officer, David Nangosi, labored to explain models of disability, which include; social and Human Rights model, which talks about inclusion of persons with disability in budget planning.
“Other models include; medical, which looks at persons with disability from a medical perspective and the attitude model that looks at persons with disability from a social perspective,” he said.
Nangosi also mentioned the Religious model, which he said although NUDIPU does not emphasize much; it plays the perspective of some people believing disability comes from God.
He enumerated the needs of persons with disability to include; provision of medical drugs to people with epilepsy and mental impairment and the provision of skin oil cream and sunglasses to people living with Albinism among others.
Sesonga John Peter, from the Equal Opportunity Commission called on participants to ensure an affirmative action is taken to address challenges facing people with disability.
“We need Sector specific guidelines through trainings and carrying out audits to ensure challenges facing people with disability is addressed,”he said.
Participants agreed to meet in the last week of November 2023, to review progress made in addressing challenges faced by people living with disability in the various Government Ministries and Agencies represented at the meeting.
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