Shame as report shows few PWDs are employed by government

Less than one per cent of government institutions have met the legal requirement of employing at least five of persons with disabilities, a report has shown.

Speaking yesterday during the launch of the first disability mainstreaming report, Assistant Director, Disability Services at the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) James Ndwiga said that though some institutions have tried to employ much still needed to be done. “The implementation of the disability mainstreaming indicator was hindered by a lack of commitment of resources, leading to a failure to achieve the target,” he said.

Additionally, Ndwiga said individuals with disabilities were predominantly employed in lower and middle-level positions.

According to ndwiga, the evaluation identified several challenges to disability mainstreaming, including inadequate financing and  lack of a national disability policy, inconsistent commitment to disability mainstreaming.

 Lack of senior management representation in disability mainstreaming committees, lack of support from performance contracting coordinators were also identified as other key challenges.  To address these challenges, the Council recommended developing a sectoral- based disability mainstreaming framework that will bring on board all government institutions, including constitutional commissions, independent offices, and county governments.

It also recommended committing to disability-inclusive planning and budgeting to ensure that resources required to finance mainstreaming in various units are embedded in the units’ budgets.

The Council also recommended sensitising institutions on the importance of accurate reporting in evaluating progress made in disability mainstreaming efforts.