Stakeholders in Uganda’s disability sector have expressed concern that persistent accessibility barriers continue to hinder the full participation of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in financial and digital services, despite years of advocacy for inclusive systems.
The issue took centre stage at the 5th Annual Disability Symposium held at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala, where participants called for urgent structural reforms.
Dorothy Najjengo, the Incubators and Accelerators Process Lead at Outbox Uganda, emphasized that meaningful inclusion requires deliberate redesign of financial and digital products.
“The theme today is financial inclusion, a key to socio-economic empowerment for persons with disabilities,” she said. “Under the 10X programme, we want to ensure that 125,000 persons with disabilities are fully participating in the digital economy.”
Najjengo noted that although the programme is now in its second year of a three-year pilot targeting 61,000 people, measuring the actual number of PWDs reached remains difficult, largely due to practical accessibility challenges.
“Accessibility is the main issue,” she said. “If you are pushing out an intervention around access to finance, a person with disability must actually be able to access that finance.”
She added that the programme promotes reasonable accommodation through tools like TalkBack, JAWS and Braille, enabling people with visual and other impairments to use digital platforms.
BrighterMonday Uganda, one of the private-sector partners present, also stressed that disability inclusion must not be treated as philanthropy. Country Lead Pamela Kabahesi underscored the importance of shifting attitudes.
“We have heard today that many organisations still treat disability inclusivity as charity,” Kabahesi said. “It is not charity. Persons with disabilities have a right to access financial inclusion as much as the next Ugandan.”
She acknowledged progress by some PWDs but noted that systemic barriers remain.
“There is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that persons with disabilities can access the same economic opportunities as us,” she added. “Our partnership with the Mastercard Foundation requires us to include PWDs intentionally, and this symposium strengthens that commitment.”
The symposium was officially opened by the Minister of State for Disability Affairs, Hon. Hellen Grace Asamo, who reminded institutions of their responsibility to serve diverse needs.
“This theme amplifies awareness about the importance of having finances to cater for people with disabilities and their diverse needs,” she said, urging stakeholders to champion public dialogue on effective support mechanisms.
During the event, BrighterMonday Uganda received an Award of Excellence in the Business and Entrepreneurship category for its efforts in promoting workplace inclusivity.
The symposium was organised by NUDIPU in partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and Outbox Uganda, ahead of Uganda’s national commemoration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities scheduled for December 3 in Mubende.
