By Godwin Abedican

Arua

The National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU), together with partners like ZOA, The Hague Academy for local governance,, Light for the World, Association of Micro Finance Institutions of Uganda and VNG international under an ongoing five years project “We Are Able” have launched a savings scheme called I-SAVE, an inclusive empowerment program that targets the persons with disability.

I-SAVE is a savings scheme where persons with disabilities are brought together to transact savings. Through the 30 member groups ZOA using their PIP methodology trains the persons with disabilities, parents and caretakers on food security initiative and farming out of which they are expected to raise monies they can save for their personal financial independence.

After the success of the same in Nwoya and Omoro, given its good practices, the partners have hence requested for it to be extended to other places where the “We Are Able” project is being implemented, that is Arua city and Terego district.

While launching the project in Arua city on Monday 25^th September 2023 at Heritage Park Hotel, Millicent Inzikuru Milly, the Deputy Mayor Arua city calls upon the beneficiaries to show impacts of their empowerment. “As a city our budget is a bit stifled to extend a lot for persons with disability. Being persons with disability doesn’t mean that nature has denied you other responsibilities.

You still have these responsibilities and so it means you must work for yourselves, you must go and compete through these initiatives to show that you are being empowered,” Inzikuru said.  


Millicent Inzikuru Milly, the Deputy Mayor Arua city speaking during the launch of I-save in Arua city

Meanwhile Doris Tazita, who represented the office of the Town clerk Arua city during the launch says this is a big empowerment tool to the persons with disability. “When we talk about this project, I believe we are talking about strategies of empowering the persons with disability through saving such they are able to meet their mandate at household levels and elsewhere.

We are in this, because we want to create chances for persons with disability than having them begging on the streets. We encourage them to do savings. We already have a leveled ground which will make this a success,” Tazita said. She says the savings needs to be well monitored because it’s the reason many groups have had problems.

According to Jacinto Angutoko, the chairperson union of persons with disabilities Arua city, the persons with disability continue to be left behind in many aspects of life “Education is not okay among persons with disability in Arua city here. The average level is around primary four the economic indicators are not very good. Most of our people with disability leave far below the poverty line. But the truth is they are still alive, we don’t have so many of them on the streets begging.
“We are able” has come to empower us economically that out of the little that we get we should be able to save something but not eat all of what we get,” Angutoko said

Gloria Kyarimpa, the cell agent for Nyio and volunteer mobiliser for the project in Oluko points out some challenges on ground with the persons with disabilities. “Not all the persons with disability are badly off. But there is just a gap in which they need to be awakened. The challenge is that we are affected by long distance for activities brought by the government like EMYOGA.

For instance in the past, there were people who registered the persons with disabilities where people came saying we contribute our monies, which were collected for registration but we can’t know where these monies ended, and the persons with disabilities have continued complaining of these monies,” She said.

Under this project a total of 4,779 persons with disability in Arua city and 5,713 in Terego district are targeted to benefit. The I-SAVE program shall be funded by African Disability Forum (ADF) and light for the world.

COVER PHOTO: Jacinto Angutoko, the chairperson union of persons with disabilities Arua city, expresses a point during the launch By Godwin Abedican