Deputy speaker of parliament has called on government to invest in infrastructure to support persons with disabilities (PWD) noting that PWDs lags behind in every activity.
The speaker remarked after receiving a petition filed by Non-government organisations (NGO), Uganda National Association of the Deaf (UNAD) and Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) seeking parliament’s intervention for deaf Children to access better and quality Education.
“Issues of disability have been talked about widely, it has not been focused on. We have resources in this country that can be directed to people who need them. We need a shift, for this to succeed,” he said at Parliament.
He said structures such as ramps in schools and health centre and building that can be accessed by PDWs without using elevators, “once it is identified that a person has a disability, it should be worked on expeditiously, to help them enjoy their constitutional rights,” he said.
“The Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights Affairs needs to into such issues and come up with a comprehensive solution to the challenges they face, you need a Member of Parliament to present it and thus it can follow all the necessary steps to have its prayers see light,” he said.
Oulanya who cautioned People in good health and condition to take interest in learning how to cater for and train persons with disabilities in schools, vowed to follow up and track fruitful outcomes of a petition.
Being the core role of advocating for deaf children’s rights, UNAD contends that children with disabilities are segregated on top of not receiving equitable services as it is for the case of other societal members.
In line with their advocacy agenda ‘Sectoring our rights, the Deaf advocacy agenda’, Salima Namusobya Said they want government to consider increased budgeting allocation for Deaf Education, access to Sign Language interpreters among others services.
Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER ) was formed to ensure full recognition, accountability and full realization of social and Economic Rights. They recently launched a report on healthcare in Amudat entitled ‘For Us We Are like Forgotten People’.