Why inclusion of people with disabilities is central to success of Big Four

Nominated MP Dennitah Gati (left) talks to people living disability at Jomo Kenyatta Sports Ground in Kisumu on April 08,2018. [File, Standard]

Next week’s disability conference to be held in London could not have come at a better time, especially against the backdrop of important issues such as access, inclusion, equality and disability inclusion in the implementation of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda.

The one-day conference co-hosted by the Kenyan Government and the United Kingdom will look at how inclusion of people with disabilities into everyday activities can enhance their participation in society, which is fundamental in the implementation of the agenda.

Clearly, people with disabilities need fair treatment and systems to enable them to use their potential, be independent, and give them a voice, choice, and control over their lives.

Whether an adult with a disability continues to live at home or joins a community depends largely on his or her ability to manage everyday tasks.

Assistive technologies can enable a person with a disability to engage in many activities. There are currently many changes in schools to ease the lives of persons with disabilities, including Braille, large print, and audio books.

Equal access

Kenya also needs to ensure that people with disabilities have access to public transport by building or modifying facilities to suit them.

Floor spaces and hallways should be free of equipment and other barriers. Our public transport system needs to be proactive and sensitive to people with disabilities.

Kenya’s Constitution guarantees people with disabilities the same rights and opportunities as their non-disabled peers.

Although this includes equal access to education, it does not guarantee equal access to schools, transport, modified curriculum, extra classroom support with trained teachers, and other support that would enable students with disabilities to benefit from education.

Children with disabilities are frequently blocked from getting quality education. Disability is recognised as one of the least visible yet most potent factors in educational marginalisation.

Although education has been acknowledged as an important path out of poverty, especially when it improves one’s quality of labour, access to it is restricted for people with disabilities because of discrimination and stigmatisation. This restricts the chances of employment for people in this group.

This means that people with disabilities are likely to remain poor, as are their children. Therefore, education, particularly inclusive education, can reduce discrimination by enabling children with and without disabilities to grow up together.

Education gives children with disabilities skills that allow them to become positive role models and join the employment market, thereby helping in the fight against poverty.

Digital inclusion

A plan of action is, therefore, needed to build on the strengths and remove barriers to inclusion.

The existing inclusive education systems need to be connected and to network in order to share successes and challenges to creating more inclusive communities.

None of this will be possible without increased funding for inclusive education programmes.

Digital technologies are becoming an essential part of modern society. However, people with disabilities face unique barriers to getting access to information and services online.

There is a need for more efforts to address the needs of people with disabilities by providing better access to digital inclusion.

Other factors that create and exacerbate social exclusion and marginalisation of people with disabilities include poverty, child labour, natural disasters, HIV/Aids, gender, ethnicity, access to healthcare, access to food, and availability of clean drinking water.

There is a big gap for children living with disabilities in Kenya, especially those from informal settlements.

Most have no access to specialised care such as a helper to take them to the washroom or even Braille for blind students.

This is worse in counties and informal settlements than at national levels.

County and national governments can support children with disabilities by ensuring adequate budgetary allocation for services that benefit them.

Community sensitisation on children living with disabilities is a key factor as it would help make people accept them.

Addressing the needs of persons with disabilities is costly. Shouldering this expense must not be seen as offering charity; it is the price to pay to ensure the positive change in national values and principles envisioned the Constitution.

Empowering persons with disabilities goes beyond obligation; it is a strategy for economic inclusivity and participation, with dividends for society at large.

Prof Mogambi, a development communication and social change specialist, teaches at the University of Nairobi: hmogambi @ yahoo.co.uk