East African Gazette
Kampala
Lack of business inclusion for disabled persons has affected People with Disabilities. Business inclusion for People with disabilities should be considered to ensure disabled persons, are catered for Tony Otoa, the CEO Stanbic Business Incubator has advised.
“Inequality in employment is one of the main stumbling blocks to social and economic development especially for persons with disabilities. Essentially there is bias towards Persons with disabilities which has greatly affected them,” Otoa observed.
In an interview with the East African gazette, Otoa explained that, “Biases are usually expressed during recruitment; people make judgement that if a person is disabled, then they are not competent. But disability and incompetence are completely different things. A person can be physically disabled but fully competence and sometime more competent than an able-bodied person.”
“People with disabilities are among the most marginalized populations in the world; and often deprived access to employment. It is estimated that 15% of the World’s populations have a disability with highest prevalence in low-income countries,” Otoa said.
Many business entities are not aware about disability, how to make disability inclusion so there is need to support the process of awareness and the rights of Persons with Disabilities in line with the laws of Uganda.
Several Business entities lack Inclusive Entrepreneurship hence disadvantaged people are not given attention which has affected the rights of Persons with Disability who would have wished to engage in business.
Otoa notes that by making small investments in disability inclusion, companies receive multiple benefits, ranging from increased revenue and improved employee retention to lower turnover costs as well as higher productivity.
A disability inclusive business strategy promises a significant return on investment of which the cost of exclusion of People with Disabilities represents up to 7% GDP in some countries, with higher revenue, a strong company culture and brand, he explains.
Global statistics indicate that there are 1.3 billion people in the world currently living with a disability, both in visible or invisible form.
Uganda Bureau of Statistics findings indicate that in 2002, the number of Persons with Disabilities was 3.8 million, in 2014, the population rose to 4.4 million and in 2020, the number increased to more than 6 million people