The UK Government joined the Secretary to the Cabinet, Mercy Wanjau, and the African Disability Forum (ADF) at the regional disability summit in Nairobi on September 5, 2024.
Themed “Persons with Disabilities in a Post-Pandemic World,” the summit aimed to highlight the current challenges facing persons with disabilities (PWD) from Africa ahead of the Global Disability Summit in April 2025.
The post-pandemic world has seen technological advancement and innovation with assistive technology increasingly playing a role in creating equal opportunities.
Following the inaugural Global Disability Summit co-hosted by the UK and Kenya in 2018, both nations made important commitments to advance disability inclusion.
How Kenya-UK is advancing disability inclusion
The UK has since launched Africa’s first assistive technology accelerator InnovateNow.
It supports startups and helps them upscale, providing expert learning, mentorship, live labs, ecosystem development, and knowledge exchanges.
The programme has also worked with Shujaaz Comics to incorporate disabled characters to challenge attitudes and stigma.
Through the Digital Access Programme, the UK has also supported digital access to Kenyan government services like the e-citizen platform for PWD.
The project has also empowered over 10,000 PWD and senior citizens in Kenya with basic digital skills.
Speaking at the event, the secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Wanjau said:
Alongside the UK, having started the inaugural disability summit in 2018, we remain committed towards disability inclusion. I applaud the Africa Disability Forum for convening this forum as it calls us to a pivotal moment of reflection.”
“Prioritising accessibility and equity in a post-pandemic world will contribute meaningfully to a shared future.”
She further noted that the 2019 Census revealed that 2.2 per cent of Kenyans, representing about 900,000 people live with some form of disability.
Disability inclusion is therefore a prerequisite in achieving Vision2030,” Wanjau said.
Need for collaboration ahead of Global Disability Summit
In addition, the Social Development Advisor at the British High Commission, Dr Jacqueline Owigo said:
“As we look ahead to the third Global Disability Summit next year, the need for collaboration has never been more urgent. Governments, the private sector, civil society, and international partners must come together, to create a more inclusive and equitable society.”
Owigo noted that through the Inclusive Futures initiative, funded by the UK, and led by Sightsavers and the International Disability Alliance, they have supported people with disabilities and organisations to advocate for improved policy and increased funding for inclusive education in Kenya.
Already, county governments have committed Ksh300 million to develop more than 250 inclusive early childhood development centres by 2027 – giving thousands of children with disabilities a greater opportunity to learn alongside their peers.
Through this initiative, we have also provided support to more than 7,500 PWDs so they can grow thriving, profitable businesses and benefit from secure and stable livelihoods.”
Moses Chege, Sightsavers’ Country Director in Kenya said:
“Despite some progress in recent years, people with disabilities are still being left behind. As we look towards the Global Disability Summit in Berlin in April 2025, we must urgently turn attention towards people with disabilities –who make up 16% of the world’s population and continue to be more likely to live in poverty and face barriers to education, health care, and employment.”
