There is need for global solidarity to advance the rights of PLWDs

The third Global Disability Summit will take place in Berlin, Germany, in the first week of April. The first Summit took place in 2018 and was co-hosted by the Kenyan government together with the UK’s  Department for International Development and the International Disability Alliance. As a result of the summit, there have been changes in the disability space with increased funding for disability-inclusive programmes and enhanced collaboration between stakeholders.

This year’s summit comes in the backdrop of foreign aid cuts including by the UK that has substantially supported a lot of disability programmes in Kenya since the 2018 Summit. Disability inclusion programmes have also been significantly funded by USAID and with the recent stop-work orders, there is likely to be regression on the positive progress that has been made on disability rights advancement over the years.

A recent report titled Disability Landscape in Kenya a collaborative effort between the National Council for Persons with Disabilities and USAID found that overall, funding at both the national and county levels remains inadequate to address the increasing needs of persons living with disabilities (PLWDs). National and county governments offer diverse support to people with disabilities. These include education assistance, infrastructure and equipment support, social protection including cash transfers, provision of assistive devices/technologies, rehabilitative services, developmental disability services, economic empowerment, access to government procurement opportunities, employment opportunities, legal advisory services, and tax exemptions and waivers.

The report further noted that PLWDs still face significant physical, informational, communication, institutional, socio-cultural, and economic barriers that limit their access to services and participation in governance and development processes. Critical gaps also persist in addressing essential needs such as healthcare, education, accessibility, representation, awareness, and public transportation.

In September last year, representatives of national, sub-regional, and Pan-African organisations of PLWDs from 38 countries across Africa, in what was dubbed the Nairobi Declaration, said the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) may not be realised by 2030 for millions of African PLWDs due to insufficient progress and the lack of prioritisation of inclusion and accessibility in SDG programmes and policies.

This is worrying especially considering that approximately 80 million people, or almost 1 in 10 people in Africa, are PLWDs.

The Berlin Summit is an opportune moment for global solidarity in advancing the rights of PLWDs , not just in Kenya, but across the globe. The summit will be asking for the attainment of the “15 per cent for the 15 per cent” target which calls for at least 15 percent of international development programmes at the country level to actively pursue disability inclusion. The 15 per cent is critical because, according to the World Health Organisation, 1.3 billion people or about 15 per cent of the world's population, experience significant disability and is the biggest minority group that most often is left behind when it comes to development and humanitarian contexts.

The author is a disability activist. lizombati@hotmail.com