Disability Rights 17: Right to supportive social services

In addition to the human rights laws in the Constitution of Uganda there are several other rights granted to persons with disabilities (PWDs). These rights are given by law in the Persons With Disabilities Act 2006 (PWDA) which is modeled on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Whether you are a PWD or not, these laws apply to you.

Section 28 of the PWDA says that PWDs have the right to social support services. These services include:

• Supplying assistance devices that will aid mobility, access to specialist doctors and medical treatment, and personal assistance services.
• Special training to improve functional limitations: For example training in the use of white canes for the blind, access to physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
• Counseling, rehabilitation and orientation to improve self-image.
• Care services for the children of PWDs.

Uganda is developing social care and support services all the time through its Expanding Social Protection (ESP) program. The 2013 paper DEVELOPING SOCIAL CARE AND SUPPORT SERVICES IN UGANDA: A Literature Review of International Experience in Implementing Social Care and Support Services: Considerations for the Ugandan Context discusses some of the themes of social care. The paper sums up the vision for social care in Uganda:

Social Care Services support communities, households, families, groups and individuals to promote resilience and reduce the vulnerability of children and adults allowing all to live to their full potential in their family and community and to fulfil their rights and aspirations.  

The Ministry of Gender, Labour & Social Development offers the following conclusion in its current discussion of the ESP Program:

Although a range of social protection instruments exist in Uganda, they have limited reach in terms of the numbers and types of people targeted. Provision of the core of many social protection systems -Direct Income Support- is very limited. The country also at the moment lacks a clear national vision for building a comprehensive social protection system as well as key instruments at national level such as Direct Income Support. Coordination of social protection issues in the country is limited; leading to potential gaps and duplications in coverage for the most vulnerable.

Uganda: For Women with Disabilities, Barriers and Abuse: After 20 years of displacement and war in northern Uganda, women with disabilities - physical, sensory, mental and intellectual - face an even more complex and grueling process of return and relocation than their neighbors. They experience stigma and sexual violence and are often denied access to health care and justice.

This law is written like this in section 28 of the Persons With Disabilities Act 2006:

28. Right to supportive services 

Government shall provide supportive social services to persons with disabilities through-

(a) acquisition of assistance devices, medical specialty and assistance personal services;

(b) specialized training activities to improve functional limitations;

(c) counseling, rehabilitation and orientation to improve their self-image;

(d) child care services for the children of persons with disabilities.