LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND SOCIAL PROTECTION FOR PWDs IN UGANDA: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES By KALANZI WILLIAM Disability Rights Trainer and Consultant Wakiso District, Uganda Tel: +256-702 83 20 34 Email: williamkalanzi@gmail.com A paper to be presented in the International Conference on Social Protection: Building Effective and Sustainable Systems for Equitable Growth. Organized by the Ministry of Finance, Government of Tanzania and supported by UNICEF, ILO and EPRI Arusha, Tanzania, December 15 th -17 th 2014. 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY According to the 2006 Uganda National Policy on Disability, Local authorities are mandated to coordinate, supervise and mobilize resources for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), initiate and implement appropriate interventions among others. In order to support the above mandate, the central government provides a Special Grant for Persons with Disabilities (SGPWD) as a social safety net to ensure that PWDs establish income generating activities of their choice that can bolster their incomes, reduce inequality and unemployment. Despite the above effort, it has been observed that the general socio-economic status of PWDs especially women and children with disabilities in Uganda is still poor. They have limited access to employment opportunities, minimal or no savings, low literacy levels, poor health and mainly rely on labor incomes. The concern of this paper is to establish the income generating activities created by the special grant using Wakiso district local government as a case study. The paper will also identify challenges faced in the implementation of this social protection instrument and the policy and program implications. This was an exploratory research that used qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis. It involved review of documents and key informant interviews. A total of 50 key informants were purposively selected. These included district and sub-county technical staff and political leaders; and members of Disabled Peoples Organizations (DPOs).The findings indicated the PWDs had used the special grant to set up micro income generating projects that included but not limited to: poultry keeping, candle making, piggery, shoe repair, tailoring, metal fabrication, catering, fish farming and purchase of functional hire materials. The income generated from such projects was used to meet basic needs such food and school fees. The PWDs however, faced the following challenges: inadequate funds, lack of skills to write project proposals and manage projects, group conflicts, limited access to information among others. The policy and program implications that were identified included: increasing the funds, conducting intensive training on project management for PWDs, policy change in the way funds are distributed, creation of clear channels of communication and ensuring that there is disability balance in the allocation of the grant. Key words: Local governments, Social Protection, PWDs and Special grant 2
1. INTRODUCTION According to the 2006 Uganda National Policy on Disability, Local authorities are mandated to coordinate, supervise and mobilize resources for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), initiate and implement appropriate interventions among others. In order to support the above mandate, the central government provides a Special Grant for Persons with Disabilities (SGPWD) as a social safety net to ensure that PWDs establish income generating activities of their choice that can bolster their incomes, reduce inequality and unemployment. The two interlocking objectives for establishing this grant are: to aid PWDs to establish income generating activities for employment creation and improvement of incomes; and to provide seed capital for income generating activities (Government of Uganda, 2011). Despite the above effort, it has been observed that the general socio-economic status of PWDs especially women and children with disabilities in Uganda is still poor. They have limited access to employment opportunities, minimal or no savings, low literacy levels, poor health and mainly rely on labor incomes. The 2012 NORAD report stresses that there is a significant correlation between the incidence of poverty and disability. The concern of this paper was to establish the income generating opportunities created by the special grant for persons with disabilities using Wakiso District Local Government as a case study. The paper also aimed at identifying the challenges faced in the implementation of this social protection instrument and the strategies that can be adopted to improve the performance of local governments in the delivery of social protection programs for PWDs. In the following sections, the paper presents the scope and methodology; key findings, policy and program implication of the results; and the conclusion. 2. RESEARCH SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 2.1 Scope The study was conducted in Wakiso District in six selected Disabled Persons Organization (DPOs) each representing a sub-county or Town Council. These DPOs included Nangabo Subcounty Association of Disabled persons (NADIPA) in Nangabo sub-county, Abalema Tweyambe United Group in Gombe sub-county, Naluvule Persons with Disabilities Group in Nansana Town council, Lugo disabled Persons Development in Busukuma Sub-county and Nangabo Parents 3
Association of Children with Disabilities (NAPACD). The time scope for this was 2010-20013. This period was considered because several groups of PWDs in Wakiso had received the grant and were engaged in the implementation of their project activities. In the content scope the study focused on the local government special grant for PWDs and its implementation, the income generating projects set up using this grant and their impact on socio-economic status of PWDs; and the policy implications 2.2 Methodology This was an exploratory research using qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis. The study involved review of existing literature and related documents such as the National Development Plan (2010), National Policy on Disability (2006), Implementation Guidelines for the Social Development Sector Conditional Grants (2011), Annual Reports of Wakiso District Local Government, Wakiso District Development Plan, Project Proposal for groups applying for the special Grants for PWDs among others. Key informant interviews were also conducted with Local Government Technical Staff and Political Leaders; and members of the associations of PWDs. A total of 50 key informants were selected in Local Governments. These included; Chief Administrative Officer, District and Subcounty Community Development Officers; Parish Chiefs. The Political Leaders included district and sub-county chairpersons, councilors representing persons with disabilities at district and subcounty levels. The district officials were selected using purposive sampling while the members of DPOs were selected using simple random sampling. The researcher used a non-statistical estimation method to determine the above sample size. In this case representativeness was related to quality rather than the number of the respondents. Data was thematically analyzed. All data relevant to each theme was identified and examined using the process of constant comparison in which each item was checked or compared with the rest of the data to establish analytical categories. 4
3. KEY FINDINGS 3.1 Nature of the Special Grant for Persons with Disabilities The special grant is a national program that operates in all districts of Uganda. The government of Uganda allocates Ushs. 3 billion that is shared by all districts. These funds are allocated through District special Grant Committees. This grant targets the most vulnerable PWDs who have organized themselves into groups. According to the Implementation Guidelines for Social Development Sector Conditional Grant (2011) this grant supports income generating initiatives which include but are not limited to the following: agricultural production, trade, micro and scale businesses, environmental, cultural heritage, tourism, telecommunication, apiary, metal works and woodwork. For effective utilization of this grant, the following guiding principles have been established: group basis in the acquisition of the grant, evidence of the ability to utilize the grant, vulnerability reduction, promotion of gender equity and disability balance. The beneficiaries of the special grant are: groups of associations of persons with disabilities, parents associations of children with disabilities and associations or groups of albinos. This grant is utilized to accelerate on-going activities of PWDs. For a PWD group to be considered for this grant, it should have been operational for at least one year. 3.2 Implementation of the special grant in Wakiso district Wakiso District local government first received the special grant for PWDs in 2009/10 financial year. Since then there is no any financial year in which this local government has not received this grant from the central government. A number of groups or associations of PWDs and parents associations for children with disabilities within this district have benefited from this grant. These include but are not limited to the following: UMOJA Association of PWDs, Angels Centre for Children with Special Needs, Mbalwa Association of PWDs, Kaaliti Disabled Women s Network, Najjemba Togaya Kyezinze Group, Nangabo sub-county Association of Disabled Persona, Lugo Disabled Persons Development Group, Abalema Tweyambe United Group and Nangabo Sub-county Parents Association for Children with Disabilities. 5
It was revealed that there are requirements which an association of PWDs has to meet in order to be offered a special grant. These are: having a minimum of 10 members, the members of the group should be residents of the sub-county in which the project will be carried out. In addition to that the group should be registered at the sub-county/town Council/Division municipality or District: The District Community Development Officer revealed that: When we are giving a special grant to PWDs, the group must have a constitution, certificate of registration, a bank account and a project proposal Other important considerations before offering a special grant to PWDs include: payment of membership fee by all members and ensuring that all types of disability are catered for. It was established that district Local Government have the powers to decide which disable persons organization qualifies for the grant offer. These powers are vested in the PWD special grants Committee. This committee receives project proposals from groups of persons with disabilities and vets them. The selected proposals are later submitted to the Chief Administrative Officer for funding. The successful PWDs groups receive the grants on a quarterly basis. The PWDs Grant Committee is chaired by the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and the District Community Development Officer is the secretary of this committee. Other members of this committee include: the Chairperson District Council for Disability, the chairperson of the district union and the two councilors representing persons with disabilities. This committee is responsible for building the capacity and mobilizing PWDs to participate in the Development process, it also creates linkages between disabled persons organizations/groups and other existing programs. It also ensures that the PWD activities are integrated in the Development plans and Budgets of the District; and it also submits quarterly reports to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, which forms the National Grant Advisory Committee. 6
The lower Local Government/Sub-county council and Town Councils are responsible for providing guidance to PWD groups when writing project proposals. They guide these groups on the procedure to be followed when applying for the grant. They further support community planning processes and also integrate disability issues in sub-county development plans and budgets.one member of Nangabo sub-county Association of Disabled Persons revealed that: At the Sub-county, the Community Development Officer verifies our applications/proposals before they are sent to the district special grants committee for vetting and approval 3.3 Categories of PWDs that have received the Special Grant in Wakiso District The study found out that in the selected PWD groups or associations, the category of PWDs that mainly benefited from the special grant are the Physically disabled persons (80%), deaf( 15%) and blind(5%). In the selected groups, there were no associations of albinos or other categories of disabilities groups as stated the National Policy on Disability (2006). Apart from the aforementioned disabilities, the policy recognizes the following disabilities: leprosy, difficulty in learning, epilepsy, loss of feeling, multiple disabilities; and difficulty in speaking and conveying messages. The table below summarizes the findings above. Table1: Showing categories of PWDs that benefited from the Special Grant in selected groups of Wakiso District from 2010-2013. Category of PWD Frequency Percentage Physical disability Deaf Albino Blind Leprosy Others 40 8-2 80 16-4 - - Source: Field data, 2014 7
3.4 Participation of women and children with disabilities It was revealed that a number of groups with female PWDs especially those with physical disabilities have participated in the projects set up with the special grant. Such groups includes; Naluvule Persons with disabilities, Kalita Disabled Women s Network, Nangabo sub-county Association of Disabled Persons (NADIP) and Abalema Tweyambe United Group. It was also established that children with disabilities have benefited from this grant either through the associations/groups of parents of children with disabilities or through organizations that have been set up to provide support to children with disabilities. Parents Associations of children with disabilities that have benefited from this grant include: Nangabo Sub-county Parents Association for children with Disabilities (NAPCD) in Nangabo sub-county and Angels centre for children with special needs in Nansana Town Council. When asked whether there was any special consideration given to women and children with disabilities in the provision the special grant, one CDO revealed that: We do not offer any special consideration to women and children with disabilities when evaluating the project proposals. What we do is to encourage women and the parents of children with disabilities to apply. 3.5 Income generating projects set up using the special grant for PWDs in Wakiso District. When the members of the Associations of PWDs were asked the projects in which they had invested the special grant, the highest number revealed that they had injected the grant in poultry keeping. On average each group was given Ushs 2million to set up a project. They used the grant only to purchase chicks which were later distributed among the members of the group. The responsibilities to construct the brooder, purchase construction materials, purchase feeds and vaccination of the chicks were to be met by the group members who received the chicks. The members had to ensure that they establish measures that will ensure the sustainability of their project. When chicks matured they were sold to nearby local market. Nangabo sub-county Association of Disabled Persons and Abalema Twayambe United Group are some of the associations that set up poultry projects using the special grant. 8
It was also found out that some PWD associations had invested the special grant in candle making projects. These associations used the grant to buy materials for making candles such as wax, candle moulds, cotton strings among others. The associations that set up such a project included: Naluvule Persons with Disability in Nansana Town Council in 2013, and Kasambya Disabled persons Association in Busukuma Sub-county. One member of Naluvule Persons with disability association stated that; We decided to set up a candle making project because the materials for making candles are relatively cheap and candles have ready market. Some groups had invested the funds in shoe repair activities. These associations used the grant to buy leather and other materials required to make shoes. They also bought shoe polish that could be used for making the shoes shine so as to attract more clients for their business. One sub-county councilor representing persons with disabilities revealed that:- Most of our PWDs are engaged in shoe repair and shining activities especially those that are located in urban and peri-urban centres of the district. It was noted that they engage in this activity because it requires less movements and little capital. Parents associations like Nangabo Sub-county Parents Association for Children with Disabilities used the grant they obtained in 2010 to buy plastic chairs and sauce pans so as to improve on their functional hire service business. This association established a project related to events management and it s out of this project that parents are able to earn income that they use to improve the lives of their children with disabilities. They are contracted by individuals planning to wed, and organize graduation and birth parties to provide functional hire services. 3.6 Special grant Projects and socio-economic improvement of PWDs When the research participants were asked whether the grant had improved the socio-economic status of PWDs, their answers were affirmative. They however, noted that this improvement has been to lesser extent. They revealed that the incomes obtained from projects such as poultry, piggery, tailoring and candle making are used to buy food items and other basic needs. 9
They revealed that the little they save from special grant project is used for payment of school fees for their children. The table below shows areas in which the income obtained from the special grant projects is invested. Table showing the socio-economic services in which the incomes of PWDs are spent. Service Frequency Percentage Food items School fees Health 35 10 5 70 20 10 Total 50 100 Source: Field data, 2014 In table 2 above, the majority of the participants (70%) revealed that the PWDs spend the incomes they have obtained from the special grant projects on food items. They stated that because of the little income that is gained from such projects, little can be done. However, 20% noted that PWDs with a good saving culture are able to pay school fees for their children. While 10% revealed PWDs have been able to access basic health needs such as buying of drugs and getting tested for various infections using the income they obtained from the special grants projects. 3.7 Challenges faced by PWDs in the implementation of activities supported by the Special Grant. The major challenge that was identified in the implementation of the special grant is the limited funds given to the PWD associations. These associations request for funds which are more than Ush. 2million but are given less of 2 million and yet the National Guidelines (2011) suggest that local governments have to award grants ranging from two to five million shillings. The funds offered to the groups are not adequate to sustain the project activities because most of the PWDs use the grant as seed capital but not accelerate the on-going activities. One district councilor representing PWDs lamented that: 10
The grant is so small and it is not given in time. The period for writing the project proposal and the time taken to execute the project is so long. The grant is thus affected by the inflation rate in the country. The participants reported that sometimes it can take a full year after approval of the proposal before a PWD group receives the grant. They further revealed that one group comprising of 30 members was given a grant of Ush. 2million. The question to this effect was: what project of 2 million shillings can benefit 30 members? The members of the PWD associations also noted that there was a challenge of writing project proposals that could be approved by the CAO. According to the implementation guidelines for the social development sector conditional grants (2011), for any PWD group to be offered the grant, it must have a viable project proposal. It was found out that to many PWDs writing a proposal is a challenge because most of them have little or no education. Sub-county technical staffs who are required to support these groups have neglected their work. They can only assist those who provide kickbacks to them. This therefore makes many of them to fail. Furthermore the PWDs have limited skills that can be applied to manage development projects. The one day training offered to groups with successful proposals by the local government officials is not adequate. The PWD grant committee does not identify PWDs with skills to manage projects but only considers the best proposals which can even be written by hired consultants who might not be part of the implementing team. Another challenge that was identified is the fact that PWDs prefer to share the small grant but not to have a model project which can be a basis for scaling their income generating activities. There is therefore no model project in any of the sub-counties established using the grant to be expanded using the funds to be received in the following financial year. 11
The PWDs also raised a complaint about the delay in the distribution of application forms to the sub-county by the district officials. They noted that when they reach the sub-county headquarters, they are informed by the sub-county community development officer that the district has not yet submitted the application forms for the special grant. They further lamented that they have to travel several times to the sub-county headquarters so that they can get the forms. A chairperson of one group revealed that: Obtaining an application form for the special grant is a cumbersome process and yet many of us have difficulties in movement. Sometimes conflict emerges among members when they have received the grant. This arises because of the variations in opinions of the members with regard to issues of financial management. This challenge has made some projects to collapse before they could actually be fully implemented. It was also revealed that there were no formal meetings organized by the sub-county administration to discuss with the sub-county council for PWDs on how the funds received by the association within that sub-county should be spent, monitored and supervised. This therefore implies that the elected councils for PWDs at sub-county levels are not directly involved in the implementation of this grant. These committees cannot meet to discuss issues concerning the special grant. The study also established that very few association of PWDs easily access information on the availability of the special grant at the district. This makes many to apply when the deadline for application has passed. They noted rarely get information on the availability of the special grant at the district. They usually receive information through rumours but not the right channels of communication. 12
4. POLICY AND PROGRAM IMPLICATION The findings indicated that there are a number of income generating activities which have been set up by various groups of PWDs using the special grant. However, the projects were on a small scale because the grant offered is also small. On average a group would receive Ushs. 2 million and this cannot sustain even the small scale project set up by the PWDs. Active groups of PWDs that have benefited from this grant had to inject more funds in their projects. There is therefore in need for the central government to increase on the amount of money offered to the different PWDs groups at least to a minimum of five million for each group. It was also ascertained that the successful implementation of this special grant program is constrained by the lack of skills by PWDs to write project proposals. Government should therefore allocate funds for conducting intensive training on project management and in such training, issues concerning project proposal writing, financial management, teamwork and record keeping should be emphasized. This training should be based at sub-county level. The training should target the members of the executive committees of the associations of PWDs and the members of the PWDs councils at the sub-county and district levels. Such training will equip PWDs with adequate knowledge and skills for managing their projects. There is need for policy change in the way funds are distributed. The district and sub-county councils should encourage and advocate for the establishment of one large scale model project in each sub-county instead of distributing the meager funds to small associations that cannot ensure sustainability of their activities. The model project can be a basis for sharing experiences and best practices for managing income generating activities. In addition to that it can also create more employment opportunities than the small scale projects set up by individual associations. All registered associations of PWDs in the sub-county should have stake in the management of this model project. This implies that a clear management structure should be set up. The benefits that specific associations obtain from this model project can be used for establishing their own income generating activities. 13
Creating clear channels of communications on the availability of the special grant at the district is an important strategy that will enable PWDs to have access to information. The district subcounty officials should organize meetings with PWD associations to inform them about the availability of these funds and their requirements. They should also make press releases and presentation to councilors. The councilors can in turn disseminate this information to the PWD groups. Furthermore, the district and the sub-county technical staff should also provide more visits to groups of PWDs to ascertain the challenges they faced in the utilization of the special grant. The findings indicated that the physically disabled persons were the major recipients of this grant in the selected sub-counties. The guiding principle followed in the distribution of the special grant is disability balance, which requires having different disability categories benefiting from the special grant projects. There is therefore a need for local governments to divide up the grant to cater for the different categories of PWDs. This division can be based upon the number of PWDs that fall within a particular category and have submitted their project proposals. In addition to that during the vetting process the grants management committee at the sub-county and district should also consider this guiding principle and maintain integrity in the selection process. 5. CONCLUSION Although there are a number of challenges faced by associations of PWDs in the implementation of income generating activities supported by the special grant, it can be deduced that this grant has enabled the PWDs to have capital for setting up micro income generating activities and accelerating the already existing ones. These activities to a smaller extent have improved the standards of living of PWDs. There is therefore need for local governments and PWD associations to lay strategies that will ensure sustainability of the grant supported activities and to scale-up their impact in the Sub-counties. 14
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