Minister Acan decries exclusion of persons with disabilities from policy formulation
Acan argued that disability cannot be treated as an issue that belongs only to one ministry, department or institution, but should involve all stakeholders, including development partners, civil society and the private sector, to improve the lives of persons with disabilities and contribute to development at large.
Gender ministry State Minister for Disability Affairs Joyce Acan (on wheelchair), Esther Kyozira (fourth left), NUDIPU chief executive officer Jill Clements (fourth right), the deputy head of mission and head of cooperation at the Embassy of Ireland pose for a group photograph with other officials during the National Stakeholders’ Disability Meeting in Kampala. (Photo by Francis Emorut)
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Disability affairs state minister Joyce Acan has decried the exclusion of persons with disabilities from the country’s policy formulation processes.
According to the 2024 National Population and Housing Census by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, there are 5.5 million people living with disabilities.
The census highlighted limited access to medical care, essential assistive technologies and rehabilitation services, among other challenges.
Acan argued that disability cannot be treated as an issue that belongs only to one ministry, department or institution, but should involve all stakeholders, including development partners, civil society and the private sector, to improve the lives of persons with disabilities and contribute to development at large.
“Disability inclusion must be at the centre of Uganda's national development agenda and mainstreamed across all sectors, programs, policies, plans and budgets. Disability inclusion is not a favour to persons with disabilities. It is a matter of rights, equality, justice and development. Persons with disabilities must not only be beneficiaries of development; they must be active participants and decision-makers in development,” Acan told participants.
The minister made the remarks during a national disability stakeholders meeting at Hotel Africana in Kampala on September 16, 2026.
“The principle of "Nothing About Us Without Us" should guide our work. We cannot design policies for persons with disabilities without their participation. We cannot design services for them without listening to their experiences. And we cannot claim to have achieved inclusion if persons with disabilities are absent from the tables where decisions are made,” Acan stated.
Acan highlighted issues that persons with disabilities are grappling with, including limited access to information, inadequate rehabilitation services, unemployment and limited livelihoods, inadequate disability-responsive budgets, lack of data, and challenges in education, among others.
“If a child with a disability cannot access quality education, our country loses human potential. If a person with a disability cannot access employment, our economy loses productive capacity,” she said.
The minister encouraged State and non-State actors to come up with practical and solution-oriented outcomes.
“Let us identify what needs to change, who needs to take action, what resources are required, and when the action should be taken. Our vision must be a Uganda where disability is not a barrier to education, health, employment, social protection, technology, justice, political participation or any other opportunity. Let us break the barriers, strengthen our services, strengthen coordination, and most importantly, strengthen the participation and voice of persons with disabilities in Uganda's development,” Acan said.
The minister reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to working with all stakeholders to advance the rights, inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities.
She said her ministry has an important leadership and coordination role, but disability inclusion requires the commitment of every ministry, department and agency (MDA), every local government, civil society organisation, development partner, organisation of persons with disabilities and the private sector.
“We must therefore strengthen coordination, share information, align our interventions and hold one another accountable for results,” she said.
The Deputy Ambassador of Ireland, Jill Clements, informed the audience that the Government of Ireland and the co-donors, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, are committed to disability inclusion and fast-tracking commitments to persons with disabilities.
Clements noted that challenges relating to access to and availability of social services, the digital divide and limited infrastructure disproportionately affect persons with disabilities. She stressed that tackling these social problems requires holistic approaches and working with a cross-section of stakeholders.
She commended the Government of Uganda’s shift from sector-wide approaches to a Programme-Based Approach, acknowledging the need for holistic and multi-stakeholder approaches to development.
Esther Kyozira, the chief executive officer of NUDIPU, appealed to the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) to involve organisations dealing with disability in designing the competence-based curriculum for persons with disabilities, which was introduced in 2020.