John Michael Griffin, Publisher of Accessibility.com, sits down with Nakiyemba Shamim, Disability Rights Advocate from Kampala, Uganda.
In a country with a per capita GDP that is just 1.2% of the United States, it is difficult to imagine the challenges disability advocates face in Uganda.
As a member of the United Nations, Uganda is bound to the Principles contained in the current Charter, and therefore the provisions set forth by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol (A/RES/61/106).
In 2006 the Ugandan Parliament fulfilled its obligations to the United Nations by affirming its commitment to recognize the rights of People with Disabilities (PWD) by enacting the PWDs Act, which includes a provision for respectful treatment, protection, and realization of human rights of PWDs.
Despite this action, however, a 2016 review of its legislative actions found that Uganda had yet to enact a "law to properly domesticate the CRPD, and that Ugandan legislation contained provisions which were manifestly inconsistent with the obligations assumed under the Convention."
There were also concerns about Uganda's ability to enforce laws intended to protect PWDs from discrimination or even provide reasonable accommodation.
In Kampala, the capital of Uganda, disability rights advocate Nakiyemba Shamim (or Sherinah as she prefers to be called), who is also deaf, knows exactly what that is like.
Sherinah
Born to two Muslim parents, Sherinah spent most of her childhood with her grandmother who raised her and later facilitated her conversion to Christianity.
Sherinah was not born deaf. As a young child, Sherinah remembers hearing very well. At age 9, however, she contracted the mumps and, given the costs associated with treatment, which her parents could not afford, she eventually lost her hearing completely. After losing her hearing, she remembers how differently her village treated her.
"People disrespect disabled people," she says, "some of them are hidden in the homes because they feel like you make them ashamed."
Sherina was later given an opportunity to continue her education with Compassion International, an American child sponsorship and Christian humanitarian aid organization that aims to positively impact the long-term development of children living in poverty. Compassion International taught her to lip-read, how to sign, and eventually provided the resources she needed to attend her local University.
After completing her education Sherinah went back to her village and started her organization, Sherinah's House of Hope, a ministry for children with disabilities.
Sherinah says that while PWDs in Kambala have some access to services for persons with disabilities, children who have communication difficulties in villages rarely have access to supportive programming. In fact, she says, "many people in the village don't know about deaf people."
Despite these challenges, Sherinah has found a space to serve. In 2014 Sherinah had 25 students in her program - she's since built a center for children that serves nearly 100.
What it's like to serve in Uganda
From her home in Kampala to the closest village her center serves is approximately 56 miles. Every Monday she begins her journey first by taxi and then by foot. From Monday to Friday she sleeps in the village because the journey is difficult due to unreliable transportation, poor infrastructure, and inaccessible roads.
She says that she tries to identify people who truly care that want to work on her staff because so many don't actually have compassion for disabled people, noting that when she travels on her roads it isn't safe − "our lives are in danger."
Given that traditions of the village rarely change, Sherinah says that many parents do not even participate in their child's education. She herself was a child neglected, which in part contributed to her hearing loss.
"About 60% truly do, do want to teach them, but the other 40% are hard because they are not educated. When you work with people who aren't educated, many challenges are there but we try our best to teach the community, to change (their thinking), their understanding."
She says that training them requires education at all levels, from parents to community leaders, and even those who receive services.
"[...] in the past, people had no knowledge about people with disabilities. But now people have started getting awareness little by little in the community. Many organizations for disabled people are found in the city."
Progress
In 2019 the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2020 was published in the Uganda Gazette and commenced on September 30, 2020. The act has notable provisions that the original PWDs Act did not, including:
- Respect and promotion of rights and freedoms of persons with disabilities
- The right to enjoy family life
- Prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment for persons with disabilities
- Non-discrimination in the provision of education services
- Non-discrimination in the provision of health services
- Habilitation and rehabilitation for persons with disabilities
- Non-discrimination in employment
- Accessibility to buildings
- Non-discrimination in the provision of transport services
- Non-discrimination in the provision of services on a commercial basis
- Identification of suspects and accused persons by visually impaired complainants and witnesses, and
- Affirmative action
In addition, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has drafted its ICT for Disability Policy (document) as an "intervention to close gaps in the use of ICT by persons with disabilities."
Although Sherinah says that organizations in the city still do not answer the phone when calls are made for service, she believes that there is hope.
"[...] we have many challenges. Resources are small. We try to advocate, but things are hard [...] you see children or youth with disabilities, they have a problem but you fail to help them, you feel disappointed," she says, "but this work is for (the) good."
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