The civil society organisations (CSOs) caring for children with disabilities have asked the Government to get involved in the process of formulating new policies.The director of Special Children’s Trust, Florence Namaganda, said the government keeps changing policies without communicating to non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Namaganda decried the lack of goodwill from the government, saying there are no streamlined laws that govern organisations that care for children with disabilities. “We want the government to engage us when they are coming up with new policies because we are the last mile providers,” she said.
Speaking during the annual general meeting of the Special Children’s Forum in Bunamwaya, a city suburb, Namaganda added that during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, some organisations caring for children with disabilities did not meet the needs of special children because the donors had stopped funding them. “About 10 organisations taking care of children with disabilities closed because their donors closed and the children have since returned to the communities,” she said.
The Child Trust Foundation is a forum of 89 organisations that are looking after children with disabilities but the forum has less than 100,000 children with disabilities in Uganda. Currently, there are about 3.5m children with disabilities but many of them are in the communities and are not cared for.
She added that they intend to create a consortium, where they want to bring together all organisations which care for children with special needs. This will help them deliberate on matters affecting children with disabilities.
The programme Coordinator Sustainable and Effective Empowerment of Children with Disabilities (SEECHILD) Fredrick Kirigwajjo said his organization has impacted self-help skills, which helps children with disabilities to become less dependent on their parents or guardians.
Kirigwajjo added that they have trained children in vocational skills to help them generate income for self-sustenance.
Christine Murungi from LALA’s Daycare and Inclusive school called for a need to raise awareness for children with special needs right from schools, adding that this will address the problem of stigma and discrimination in homes and communities.
This article was originally published on April 11, 2021 by NewVision. Photos by Violet Nabatanzi.
