Uganda Society for Disabled Children

Kampala, Uganda
In partnership with AbleChildAfrica

The Uganda Society for Disabled Children (USDC) provides medical and educational support to individual children, works closely with schools and families, and campaigns to ensure that disabled children across Uganda achieve their rights. In doing so, USDC staff work closely with children, families and communities as well as partnering with government staff in the health, community and education sectors. Here are just a few examples of the work they do:

Parent Support Group

The formation of 98 Parents Support Groups has enabled parents to become more involved in changing the lives of their children. The groups provide information and support to parents of disabled children and are a useful resource in educating the wider community.

Work in Schools

In schools, USDC has been working closely with local government to train teachers to work with disabled children and to provide appropriate learning resources. It has also established Child Rights Clubs which encourage disabled children to fully interact with their peers.

Mental Health Project

Most of the childhood disability in Uganda is as a result of preventable causes, especially immunisable diseases and the poor treatment of common illnesses. Statistics collected by USDC within the programme districts over the years suggest that the number of disabled children in a district is about 4.5% of the total population.

Based on this it is estimated that there are over 1 million disabled children in the country. The World Health Organisation estimates that the rate of disability could double this figure and perhaps as high as 10%. The commonest disabilities in the country currently are epilepsy, mental retardation and cerebral palsy.

USDC staff felt little was being done to meet the needs of children and young people with mental health problems. Consequently USDC has been working to integrate children with mental health problems into their work. This has been done by equipping health professionals with the necessary skills, educating parents and communities about mental health and illnesses, and advocating for access to education and training.

To find out more about USDC's amazing work please click here

AbleChildAfrica

AbleChildAfrica works with local partner NGOs in Africa to change the lives of young disabled people. They champion the rights of young disabled people and work to improve their access to healthcare, education and employment opportunities.

Advocacy and Child Rights: Support local partners to lobby locally and nationally on child rights.

Education: Equip teachers with skills to educate young disabled people, refurbish classrooms to make them accessible and provide resources for learning.

Health:Train professionals in skills such as mental health care and ENT, provide rehabilitative surgery and make sure that facilities are available as close to children as possible.

Social Participation: Work to reduce stigmatisation of young disabled people and increase awareness of their needs among the public and policy makers.

Families: Establish support groups for families and help them to be positive and effective advocates for their children.

Employment Opportunities and Livelihoods: Refurbish and manage vocational training centres, improving the chances of young disabled people in the job market.

Sexual Health Issues: Support parents in communicating sexual health messages and producing materials in a variety of formats to raise awareness about sexual health among young disabled people.

By 2012 they seek to be an established point of contact for those working with young disabled people in Africa, providing resources and support to local partner organisations and a wide range of information and learning opportunities to ensure that young disabled people can be involved in development in Africa.

To find out more about AbleChildAfrica's amazing work please click here

Registered UK charity no. 326859