NUDIPU advocates for disability inclusive mass registration by NIRA

As government prepares to enroll for the mass registration process starting in August 2023, National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU) engaged with National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) to understand how persons with disabilities can be supported to ensure that they are not left out during the registration process and come up with a policy for efficiency in service delivery.  

The engagement was deemed necessary as it sought to address the challenges experienced by persons with disabilities during the previous registration process in 2014 as it limited the process to only three categories of disabilities (hearing impairment, visual impairment and those with physical disabilities) hence leaving out the many other disability categories such as the little people, Albinism, Deaf, Deafblind among many others.

“As we begin with the process of mass enrolment and renewal of national identity cards, a tactile feature has been added to enable those with visual impairment to feel their details captured on the card”. – Rosemary Kisembo – Executive Director, NIRA.

During the engagement meeting, it was noted that the technology used during the 2014 mass registration process did not capture those without hands since it was limited to the capturing of figure thumb prints. Poor attitudes by enumerators, inaccessible registration centres were among the factors that hindered the smooth mass registration process to be inclusive.