Create support systems for PWDS – Oulanyah

Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanya after opening the Research Dissemination meeting for the disabled organised by Makerere UniThe Rt. Hon. Deputy Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah, has called for increased budgets and policies that support Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

Oulanyah said there is need for more focus and funding to facilitate PWDs reach desirable levels.

“In a poor economy, disability is almost a condemnation. There are technologies for PWDs to make them work normally but how much money do we have to procure it?” he said.

The Deputy Speaker made these remarks while presiding over a meeting for dissemination of research findings on Disability and Technology Project by Makerere University in collaboration with University of Zurich at Hotel Africana on Wednesday, 27thJuly 2017.

Oulanyah urged PWDs and their representatives to ensure that their decisions find their way to Parliament and Cabinet.

“I ask you to continue with these initiatives that support PWDs. Do not stop here with your resolutions. Ensure that these are presented to Parliament for inclusion in the policies and budgets,” he said. The Disability and Technology project was a three-year collaborative research project between Makerere University College of Health Sciences – Child Health and Development Centre (CHDC); The Department of Social Work and Social Administration, Makerere University and the Ethnographic Museum, University of Zurich, Switzerland.

The project addresses the issue of disability and technology in Uganda focusing on the fields of transport, communication, and rehabilitation.

Prof. Anne Katahoire, the Director, Child Health and Development Centre, Makerere University said that the aim of the project was to see how PWDs can be helped by technology.

The research found out that road technologies in Uganda hardly accommodated the needs of persons with mobility disabilities. It also highlighted that road pavements were hardly available or accessible and that road crossing points hardly accommodate PWDs.

It recommended that the road designs, construction and repair plans must be appropriated to the local conditions to accommodate the extra needs and safety of person with disabilities.