NEW VISION | PWDs | WIN-SIRI

KAMPALA - New Vision is to publish story series highlighting the plight of persons with disabilities (PWDs). 

The series, developed with support from Women In News Social Impact Reporting Initiatives (WIN-SIRI) grant, also examines compliance of public facilities with laws governing PWDs in Uganda. 

The series starts tomorrow (Wednesday, October 18) and will run through to October 30, New Vision editor John Eremu said yesterday. 

“This story project will investigate compliance of public facilities with the laws governing PWDs in Uganda. While the project will be executed from a gender lens, it goes without saying that disability is non-discriminatory; it affects men and women, children and the elderly in equal measure,” Eremu said. 

The project objective, Eremu said, is to draw the attention of the public and policymakers to take action on the plight of PWDs. 

“A team of experienced journalists were deployed to execute the project and we shall be publishing a story every day till the end of this month. We have used a solutions journalism approach in the series, quoting real people to highlight any policy gaps and the practical options to address them from a gender perspective,” he explained. 

Minister looking forward  

Hellen Asamo, the Minister of State for Disability Affairs, said yesterday that she was looking forward to reading the New Vision’s investigative stories. 

“Your investigation is one thing which can show us how to come up with strategies to ensure that people comply with the law. But it is not only about PWDs; accessibility to public facilities is for everybody. So, to me accessibility is wider than just looking at PWDs,” the 58-year-old minister, who is also the MP for PWDs in eastern region, said. 

She, however, noted that although she will be looking forward to reading the stories, she thinks Uganda is progressively moving towards accessibility, especially to public buildings by PWDs. 

The project objective, Eremu said, is to draw the attention of the public and policymakers to take action on the plight of PWDs. 

“We always recognise the legislative part of it. First of all, the Uganda Building Control Act, 2013 recognises accessibility to public buildings for PWDs and the National Building Review Board has the responsibility of monitoring and ensuring that new buildings coming up are accessible to PWDs and in that board we already have a representative of PWDs,” Asamo noted. 

She said the Building Control Act of 2020, which the President assented to, also recognises the issues of accessibility to public places for PWDs.

“So the onus is now on the implementers to ensure that the law is followed. And now if somebody finds a building that is open to the public inaccessible, they can take the owner to court because the law provides for that,” the minister said.

Findings so far  

Our findings so far show that Uganda has an elaborate policy and legal framework aimed at empowering and creating a friendly environment for minority and disadvantaged groups, including PWDs. 

However, our investigations reveal that there is demonstrated reluctance in enforcing compliance with such laws and policies. 

New Vision also noted that the resultant effect is that an estimated 15% of Uganda’s population with various forms of disability are denied, or find it a challenge to access some of the public services. 

Like other disadvantaged groups, PWD issues receive insufficient coverage in the mainstream media because development journalism is costly. 

“The economic downturn occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic has forced media houses across the globe, New Vision inclusive, to cut costs in response to dwindling revenues. 

“This has further dented the coverage of minority groups including PWDs. Their coverage, if any, has tended to be incidental, sensational rather than a sustained campaign. That is why we are grateful to WIN-SIRI for their support on this project,” Eremu said. 

The SIRI grant was launched in 2020, on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, to increase social impact reporting and provide short-term support to media and journalists. 

The project aims to bring stories of vulnerable or marginalised communities to the mainstream and to help connect these communities to mainstream media. 

The project is part of the wider World Association of Newspapers WIN primary objective of improving gender balance in news media content.

For more details visit http://epapers.visiongroup.co.ug or get yourself a copy of today's New Vision to get started.

Treaty signed 

Uganda is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which requires states to ensure appropriate access to persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communication technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas.