Know Your Rights 26: Equal Opportunities Commission

The Ugandan Bill of Rights, Chapter 4 of the Constitution of Uganda, details the rights of all Ugandan citizens. Whether you are a person with a disability (PWD) or not, all these rights are yours, they are protected by law.

Article 32 of the Constitution of Uganda it states that the government should take affirmative action to support marginalized groups. These groups are based on:

• Gender: Women are greatly disadvantaged and are often left to care for families.
• Age: Children and the elderly are some of the most vulnerable citizens in Uganda.
• Disability: This blog has shown the significant role of stigma and prejudice against PWDs.
• Any other reason created by history, tradition or custom: This is often taken to refer to disadvantaged tribal groups.

Article 32 (2) of the Constitution continues saying that the Ugandan Parliament shall make laws to form an Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) to give full effect to the rights of marginalized groups (see Know Your Rights 13: The right to welfare of the disadvantaged).

The vision of the EOC is described as:

A just and fair society where all persons have equal opportunity to participate and benefit in all spheres of political, economic, social and cultural life.

Its mission is:

To give effect to the state’s mandate to eliminate discrimination against any individual or groups of persons through taking affirmative action to redress imbalances and promote equal opportunities for all in all spheres of life.

The EOC oversees government and state run enterprises, as well as businesses, non government organisations and social and cultural communities. The the EOC was created to work towards the elimination of discrimination and to promote equal of opportunities and affirmative action. 

If you are a PWD this means that you should be given an equal opportunity with other citizens applying for the job. It is against the law to discriminate on the grounds of disability. 

EOC recommends 3% of youth fund to go towards youth with disabilities. 

The Constitution of Uganda details Article 32 like this:

32. Affirmative action in favour of marginalised groups.

(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, the State shall take affirmative action in favour of groups marginalised on the basis of gender, age, disability or any other reason created by history, tradition or custom, for the purpose of redressing imbalances which exist against them.

(2) Parliament shall make relevant laws, including laws for the establishment of an equal opportunities commission, for the purpose of giving full effect to clause (1) of this article.