| dc.description.abstract | The fundamental objectives of enacting the Persons with Disabilities Act (No. 14 ) of 2003 were: 'to provide for the rights and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities; to achieve equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities; to establish the National Council for Persons with Disabilities; and for the connected purpose' (Persons With Disabilities Act (N014) of 2003:283). This study explores the extent to which these objectives have been realized, what policy instruments have been used to achieve these objectives, which of these have worked well and which have not.
It was guided by the systems theory of public policy implementation and employed field survey as a data collection method. It was conducted in three Kenyan cities namely; Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. It involved 48 government officials, 56 persons with disabilities, 20 parents of children with disabilities and 20 leaders of disabled person's organizations (DPOs). The study established that a number of steps have been taken by the government towards promoting the human rights of persons with disabilities since the Act was enacted in 2003. The study established that there was a marked improvement in the level of access to education, employment and other social amenities for persons with disabilities.
The researcher observed, however, that most of the policy promises outlined in the Act have remained unfulfilled. None of the eight government ministries which the Act mandates different responsibilities in its implementation process for example, had employed a disabilities inspector. To this end there was no one in these ministries to monitor how well they were doing in the process of promoting the human rights of Persons with Disabilities. In addition to the foregoing in most communities visited stigma and discrimination against persons with disabilities was still prevalent.
There was also evidence that persons with disabilities were lagging behind the rest of the Kenyan population in key development areas such as employment, education and health. This slow progress in expanding opportunities for the Persons with Disabilities has resulted to losses for the persons with disabilities and the economy at large in terms of under- developed human capital, loss of output from productive PWDs and loss of income for their households.
The study recommends the establishment of an institutional assessment and capacity building programs for the National Council for Persons with Disabilities. These assessments should focus on financial and human resource requirements analysis, reporting lines between the Council and other government ministries involved in the PDA implementation process and the governance systems of the Council. It also recommends inclusion of disability mainstreaming in the performance contracts of the permanent secretaries of all eight government ministries which the Persons with Disabilities Act mandates to play one role or the other in its implementation process. In addition to these all government ministries should employ disability inspectors as outlined in section 43 of Persons with Disabilities Act to monitor its implementation process. | en_US |
