Mombasa and Kilifi counties have been urged to develop a disability policy to end marginalisation.
Mombasa National Council for Persons with Disability coordinator Juliet Ruwa said that people with disabilities continue to suffer marginalisation in health, education and development due to legislative gaps.
She said the NCPWD, in partnership with Dream Achievers Youth Organisation and the Mombasa government, is drafting a policy to facilitate full disability mainstreaming in the devolved unit.
The policy seeks to strengthen legislation requiring at least a five per cent quota for PWDs in the public and private sector.
“In the previous county government, the policy was rejected and now we are making a new one that will inform data collection and the budget-making process,” Ruwa said.
Dayo executive director Seif Jira said PWDs in Mombasa have continued to suffer adverse socioeconomic outcomes due to discriminatory prejudice and stigma.
“In every county, there is a need to have a policy that will guide the budget-making process, but in Mombasa we have none. This has continued to marginalise special groups. We want to bring everyone on board so that we can produce an all-inclusive document,” he said.
Jira said the county government has been unable to allocate enough resources to meet the needs of important groups, something which has led to a lack of reliable and desegregated data.
They said that the government relies on the data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics data 2019, which is outdated considering the growing population.
They now want a quantitative study done to match the current dynamics.
Jira said their organisation is developing a policy to ensure the plight of PWD is captured by the end of November when the new draft will be out.
He said the nomination of persons with disability in Mombasa county assembly was discriminatory.
"We want to put all stakeholders together in developing a Mombasa policy because we have noticed that Mombasa has no desegregated data on people with disability for budget planning purposes,” he said.
White Ribbon Alliance communications director Angel Katusya said there has been a continued disregard for disability rights in Kilifi county.
She said the organisation is working towards championing disability rights in the county.
“We are building the capacity of girls because they are always discriminated against when accessing sexual reproductive health. We are trying to sensitise them on how they can demand their rights because they have continued to be marginalised,” Katusya said.
Edited by A.N
