By: Our reporter

Refugees with disabilities in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement are rebuilding their livelihoods through poultry keeping, farming and other income-generating activities under an inclusive livelihood project supported by the Danish Association of the Disabled.

The four-year pilot Inclusive Livelihood Project, launched in 2023, aims to empower refugees with disabilities in Ocea and Omugo zones, as well as persons with disabilities in host communities in Terego and Madi-Okollo districts.

Balla Simon Elisa, a South Sudanese refugee, says the skills he acquired through the project have enabled him to diversify his income sources, improve his family’s nutrition and meet his children’s educational needs.

Through poultry keeping and kitchen gardening, Balla has improved his family’s welfare. He says he initially started with eight birds but has since increased his flock to 17 after selling some and reinvesting the proceeds in additional poultry. He has also ventured into vegetable growing, selling part of his harvest and using the remainder to feed his family.

Balla is among 450 households headed by persons with disabilities benefiting from the project.

Beneficiaries have received training in business management, the rights of persons with disabilities, poultry keeping, beekeeping and other livelihood activities aimed at promoting economic independence.

The project is implemented by a consortium of three organizations led by the Uganda National Action on Physical Disability (UNAPD), in partnership with LMI Uganda and the Uganda National Association of the Blind (UNAB).

Ulla Trojmer, Chairperson of the Global Corporation Committee at the Danish Association of the Disabled (Dansk Handicap Forbund), says the project has registered commendable progress, particularly in improving the livelihoods of refugees with disabilities and persons with disabilities in host communities.

However, these achievements come against a backdrop of limited inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian and refugee response programmes.

Mukasa Apollo, Executive Director of UNAPD, says many interventions under refugee response programmes do not directly target persons with disabilities, leaving them largely excluded from opportunities designed to improve the welfare of vulnerable communities.